Introduction to the principles of sociology; a text book for colleges and universities

! I i HI J

INTRODUCTION

TO THE

PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

A TEXT BOOK FOR COLLEGES AND
UNIVERSITIES

BY

GROVE SAMUEL DOW

PROFESSOR OF SOCIOLOGY IN BAYLOR
UNIVERSITY

WACO, TEXAS:

BAYLOR UNIVERSITY PRESS
1920

All rights res

^BRAT^
2 6 1962

(TV OF

417806

MM

Uo

COPYRIGHT, 1920
BY G. S. DOW

WACO, TEXAS

Printed and Electrotyped by
HARGREAVES PRINTING COMPANY

DALLAS, TEXAS

Under whose inspiration the study of

Sociology was begun, and whose

friendship has since been an

aid and guide, this book

is affectionately

dedicated.

PREFACE

In the past we have had almost as many different
conceptions of sociology as there have been sociologists. But
gradually there has been evolving a more or less definite idea
of what the science really includes, and the time seems ripe
for a text that will represent this movement. The author does
not look upon sociology as a theoretical analysis of society,
nor as a sort of social psychology; neither does he consider
it merely the study of some of our social problems. He looks
upon sociology as a broader and deeper subject than any of
these conceptions of the past, as a subject that comprises in
a related fashion these different specific phases.

The plan of the book is to give the student who takes but
one course in sociology a general idea of the whole science,
and to give to the student who tontinues the subject a
foundation for advanced work. Emphasis is placed upon
those subjects that will be of greatest practical value to the
student, such as immigration, the race question, the family,
poverty, and crime, altho other phases of the science, such
as the evolution of institutions and the general principles of
social theory, are not neglected.

At the end of each chapter is given a list of reading
references, so that the text can be used in a one term course
with a limited amount of outside reading, and in a two terms
course with more extended use of collateral readings. Chapter
fourteen, on education, can easily be omitted if time is limited.

Because of the general nature of the text and because much
of the subject matter is common property, the author has made
no attempt to refer to the original source of the information
given; all the leading books used will be found in the
bibliography at the end. The writer wishes to express his
appreciation for advice and help on the part of his friends
and colleagues, especially to Prof. L. J. Mills for valued aid
in revising the manuscript and to Mrs. Dow for her timely
suggestions and aid thruout the entire work.

WACO, TEXAS, May 8, 1920. G. S. Dow.

CONTENTS

PART ONE
INTRODUCTION
I. NATURK or SOCIOLOGY.

PART TWO
POPULATION
II. MAN AND NATURE.

III. INCREASE or POPULATION.

IV. HUMAN MIGRATION.
V. IMMIGRATION.

VI. IMMIGRATION (Continued).
VII. URBAN MIGRATION.
VIII. THE AMERICAN RACE PROBLEM.

PART THREE

EVOLUTION OF SOCIAL INSTITUTIONS
IX. EVOLUTION OF THE FAMILY.
X. PROBLEMS OF THE MODERN FAMILY.
XI. SOCIAL ACHIEVEMENT.
XII. EVOLUTION OF THE STATE.

XIII. RELIGION AND ETHICS.

XIV. EDUCATION.

PART FOUR
ANALYSIS OF SOCIETY
XV. INSTINCTS, FEELING AND INTELLECT.
XVI. SOCIAL INTERESTS.
XVII. SOCIAL CONTROL.
XVIII. SOCIAL ORGANIZATION.

PART FIVE

SOCIAL MALADJUSTMENT
XIX, POVERTY: CAUSES AND CONDITIONS.
XX. POVERTY: TREATMENT.
XXI. CRIME: CAUSES AND CONDITIONS.
XXII. CRIME: TREATMENT.

XXIII. IMMORALITY.

XXIV. DEFECTIVES.

PART SIX
SOCIAL PROGRESS
XXV. PROGRESS.

PART ONE
INTRODUCTION

CHAPTER I
THE NATURE OF SOCIOLOGY

What Is Sociology? — While it is not unusual nowadays
to begin a text-book without supplying a definition; the
author considers it entirely unsafe to start the tyro in the
science of sociology without furnishing him with some idea
of the nature of that science. Nearly every student entering
an introductory course in sociology has a more or less hazy
conception of the subject; he thinks that it will probably
take up some such topics as poverty, crime, vice and
intemperance, and that it will include an investigation of
slums and a consideration of other causes of the miseries
of humanity. Yet if this same student were asked to point
out the difference between sociology and socialism, he would
probably be at a loss how to explain it.

There are as m'any definitions of sociology as there are
text-books' on sociology and altho the majority of these
definitions are more or less incomplete, the author hesitates
to add another to the collection. Sociology has been defined
as "the science of society", "the scientific study of society",
"the science of social phenomena", "the study of human
association", "the science of the social process", "the science
of the social relation", and as "the science which treats of
the phenomena of society arising from the association of
mankind". A similar list of definitions of equal value and
weight could be added to this one. Probably the clearest
and best definition given to date is that furnished by Professor
Ell wood1 in "the science which deals with human association,
its origin, development, forms and functions".

Different Conceptions of Sociology. — The reason for
the differences in regard to the definition of sociology is to be
found largely in the various conceptions held by sociologists
in regard to the scope and field of the science. Some look
upon sociology as an inclusive science, embracing all the fields

^'Sociology and Modern Social Problems", p. 13.
9

10 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES Of SOCIOLOGY

of human endeavor; others ascribe to it but a limited field,
restricting it to a technical analysis of the forms of association,
or to a classification of the different groups found among men.
Therefore, before we attempt another definition of sociology
and before we outline what we shall expect to study, we should
take a glance at these existing conceptions, or perhaps we
ought to say, groups of conceptions held by the leading
sociologists.

1. Sociology as a Study oj Social Problems. — As we
suggested in our first paragraph, the idea that sociology is
a study of social problems, is the notion held by the majority
of those who have not studied sociology, and, unfortunately
by a few who have, or at least think that they have, studied
the science. While sociology undoubtedly does treat of the
evils found in society and of their remedies, it is not confined
to them. Sociology treats of the normal as well as the
abnormal; it analyzes the healthy phases of society as well
as the unhealthy; in fact, it regards the abnormal, unhealthy
phases of society as examples of maladjustment, as examples
of what ought not to be; it considers the evils of society as
exceptions to the normal evolution of society. Such phases
it relegates to one side, or one corner of the. field of the science.
Different branches of sociology, such as philanthrophy or
criminology, devote their time exclusively to these unwhole-
some, abnormal elements of society. While these without
doubt are among the most attractive parts of the science,
they are by no means all of it. The attraction which these
phases have for numbers of people accounts undoubtedly for
the widespread misconception.

2. Sociology as a Theoretical Analysis oj Human Associa-
tion. — A view held, not by those ignorant of the science,
but by professed sociologists, is that sociology is an analysis
of human association. The nature of this analysis depends
upon the sociologist. Professor Simmel regards sociology as
the science of the order or organization of society. Professor
Small limits it almost exclusively to the study of groups and
group action. Professor Giddings has worked out a very elab-
orate system, based chiefly upon the sociability trait of man-
kind. Others treat it as a study of human interests and of
the forces that control human action. Still others limit it to
a study of the present organization of society. The criticism
of these conceptions is much the same as that made of the

THE NATURE; OF SOCIOLOGY 11

popular idea — they take up only one side of the science. Each
of the above treatment is unquestionably sociology; but each
is too narrow to stand for the whole science. Each one shows
only one phase of the science. The trouble lies in the fact that
sociology is a new science; when a sociologist develops a new
theory, he becomes so engrossed in it that he can see nothing
but it; so he tries to build a whole science upon what ought
to be only the foundation of one wing of the structure, instead
of the whole building.

3. Sociology as the Study of Civilization. — Under the con-
ception of sociology as the study of civilization, the develop-
ment of human institutions, such as the state, the family,
religion, language, and education are treated. While admit-
ting other phases of the science, Professor Ward, without doubt
America's greatest sociologist, confined himself to this kind
of treatment. While this also is sociology, and in fact is
probably the most important phase of the science, it is subject
to criticism in that it is too broad, since it includes political
science, economics, and history as well as sociology. More-
over it does not give sufficient attention to present conditions
— a subject in which the ordinary student of the science is
much more interested than he is in the state of society twenty-
five thousand years ago, for he looks naturally to this study
for aid in living the life set before him. This study of civili-
zation gives us, however our ideas in regard to the evolution
of society; herein lies its chief value.

4. Sociology as a Social Philosophy. — Another conception
quite often held is that sociology treats society in much the
same way as psychology treats the individual — that it is a
study of the social mind, an interpretation of what man does,
why he does it and how he does it. This again is part of
sociology but not all of sociology. This, while an important
phase of the science, is perhaps the most difficult one and for
that reason has been less fully investigated than any other.

As has already been indicated, sociology is not one but
all of these. Sociology deals with human, association, with
the origin, the development, forms, and functions of society.
It includes as subjects of study the origin and development
of human ^institutions; the forms thru which society has
passed; the organization of society today, and the present
day conditions; interests which prompt human action; the
forces which exist in and control society; and the social mind.

12 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

Sociology may be divided into theoretical and practical, or
as they are often called, pure and applied. The former deals
with the origin and development of institutions, the analysis
of human interests, social forces, and social psychology; the
latter takes up the conditions found in society today and
generally gives special attention to the problem side. This
volume will attempt to cover both theoretical and practical
sociology, but it will pay particular attention to the practical
side.

What Is Society? — As we have stated, sociology is the
study of human association — society; and before we go any
farther we must have a common understanding of the meaning
of this term. Here again we find a difference of opinion.
Some sociologists have looked upon society as merely another
term for humanity, or mankind. Others have treated it as
synonymous with the term nation; this however is not the
commonly accepted view; in fact it is one generally discarded.
Others look upon society as standing for a certain select or
special aggregation or cultural group. Sometimes the word
is used as referring to social intercourse. It is, however,
becoming the accepted practice in sociology to look upon
society as meaning the group, that is an indefinite number of
persons bound together by more or less permanent relations,
as a family, a club, a fraternity, a class, a party thrown
together at random in travel, or in general any body of
persons united by some tie, even tho that tie be brief and
transitory. Ellwood defines society as "any group of psychic-
ally interested individuals".1 Yet at times society does
undoubtedly refer to the nation, to a race, or even to
humanity, but even then it regards the nation, the race and
humanity as expanded groups. It is more concerned with the
phenomena of the association of the members of the group,
than with the individuals composing the group.

Professor Giddings has very carefully organized the modes
of association into eight different kinds; these he calls the
sympathetic, congenial, approbational, despotic, authoritative,
conspirital, contractional, and idealistic.2 While this scheme
is elaborate and shows much ingenuity, it is not very helpful,
as it is confusing rather than clarifying.

Complexity of the Social Process. — The social order

'Ellwood, "Sociology in Its Psychological Aspects", p. 13.
'American Journal of Sociology, vol. X, pp. 161-176.

THE NATURE OF SOCIOLOGY 13

cannot be explained by any one rule or set of rules, or shown
to be the result of any one force or principle, as Professor
Tarde tried to develop it by using as the key for all social
phenomena the one principle, imitation. Neither will any
such key as "consciousness of kind" or "occupational group"
unlock the door. Human association is too complicated and
intricate to be so explained. Different forces are constantly
at work in society, some in co-operation, and some in opposi-
tion to each other. Too many interests prompt human action
to be explained by any particular set of motives. But tho
the organization of society can be reduced to some sort of
order and system it is by no means an easy thing to do. So
while it might be more logical to take up the analysis of
society at this point than to postpone it until later, we shall
make a study of the people that make up society and the
development of the institutions in society before we analyze
the interests that prompt men to act and the forces that
control human action.

However we may notice here for the purpose of illustrating
the complexity of society, the principle of co-operation, which
is always at work, whether consciously or unconsciously, will-
ingly or unwillingly. To get a conception of this principle
one has only to stop to consider the number of persons who
take part in producing any one commodity, bread for illus-
tration, a loaf of which we for years were able to purchase
for the sum of five cents. Not only the grocer who sold us
the bread and the baker who made the loaf, but also the
railway employees who handled the flour; the miller who
ground the wheat; the men who made the machinery used
in the mill, the cars on the railroad, or even the mill itself,
and those who laid the track for the railroads; the other rail-
way employees who carried the wheat to the mill; the farmer,
who grew the grain; the men who made the farm machinery
used in raising and harvesting the grain; the miners who
brought the ore out of the ground, and the lumbermen who
cut the lumber used in the machinery, as well as the men
employed in the more immediate process of handling the grain
or flour — all helped to produce the loaf of bread. In fact
we should be obliged to go back several years to find all of
the persons who had a part in the production of that one
loaf of bread. The same is true of every other commodity
produced. It is a complicated world in which we live, a vast
machinery which man has constructed. Human association is

14 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES Of SOCIOLOGY

too intricate to lend itself easily to explanation. Man cannot
be isolated; he cannot live without his fellow beings. He
must come into contact with them.

The Relation of Sociology to the Other Sciences. —

When sociologists, like Comte and Ward, attempt to classify
all the sciences, they generally rank sociology either as the
leading science, the most advanced, and most important science,
or else make the statement that sociology includes the bulk
of the other sciences, especially those most closely related
to economics, political science, religion, ethics, history, and
anthropology. The principal result of these extravagant
claims has been to antagonize the other sciences, and to cause
sociology to be discredited, because of its laying claims to
fields of thot which it not only cannot adequately cover, but
to which it has no valid claim. For a new science suddenly
to appear and appropriate to itself, on the basis of a new
classification, fields of thot, which have been cultivated and
worked over for long periods of time by other sciences, is too
much to be conceded and the attempt at appropriation has,
in the mind of the writer, hindered rather than advanced
sociology. We shall make no such assumption for sociology;
we shall not try to prove that it is the scientia sclent arium,
or that it includes within its domain any of the older sciences.
Sociology has its own boundaries, which include a territory
large enough to afford sociologists ample room for work and
investigation. Sociology does, however, border on other
sciences and at times does invade their fields, but no more
than they, in turn, border on sociology and encroach upon
its domain.

There is what might be called a fund of human knowledge,
from which all sciences draw, a sort of common forest to
which each goes for- its raw material. Sociology takes from
this common source of supply facts of which other sciences
avail themselves, and uses them as timber in the building
of its structures. It may take the same information and
dispose of it in a manner entirely different from that of some
other sciences. For example we know that the Normans
conquered England; history makes use of that fact for its
purposes, so does sociology in illustrating its theory of social
assimilation or the mingling of races. Art, religion, ethics,
economics and political science may make use of this same
fact, but each will use it in its own way, from its own point
of view. Sociology makes use of investigations of other

\
THE NATURE OF SOCIOLOGY 15

sciences like chemistry, geology and economics; but it on
the other hand makes investigations into such questions as
standards of living, human interests, causes and conditions
of poverty, etc., the results of which are, in turn, used by
other sciences. Sociology possibly because it is a general
rather than a detailed science, has more to do with classifi-
cation and arrangements than with delving. Because sociology
considers problems and conditions which other sciences, espe-
cially economics and history, do not know how to handle,
it has often been called "the science of left-overs"; however
this accusation is no more true of sociology than it is of other
sciences, except in so far as sociologists because of the newness
of their subject have at times been puzzled to know how
accurately to limit their field of endeavor and logically to
classify their material. Sociology has also been accused of
being the biggest thief among the sciences, in that it steals
all it likes, and rejects everything it does not know how
to use or does not care to include. This arraignment has
been made more in the spirit of jealousy than from any other
motive, because of the attractions sociology presents and
the number of disciples it has acquired. In order to observe
more closely the position of sociology in regard to the other
sciences let us consider it in relation to some of its nearest
neighbors.

1 . Sociology and Economics. — Possibly the nearest neigh-
bor to sociology is economics, the science of wealth, which
deals with the phenomena resulting from the wealth-getting
and wealth-using activities of man — a province much more
definitely marked out and limited than that of sociology.
Economics takes up the production, distribution, and con-
sumption of wealth and works out laws or principles in regard
to such activities. When sociology has to deal with problems
or conditions involving the distribution of wealth, such as
poverty, for illustration, it must necessarily go to economics
for the principles underlying and the laws governing the distri-
bution of wealth. Again, when sociology deals with phenom-
ena involving the production of wealth, sociology must go to
economics for the purpose of learning the factors involved in
the production of wealth. On the other hand, when economics
deals with exchange of wealth, for instance, it must go to
sociology for an understanding of the human interests which
cause people to desire articles they do not possess and to
be willing to exchange things they have for them. It must

16 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

go to sociology for a knowledge of the forces which control
human action. Economics cannot explain the desire of man
for sociability, his craving for companionship, altho it must
recognize this as a factor in the distribution of wealth.
Custom, habit, imitation, and similar factors are constantly
making themselves felt in the economic world, and economics
must learn of sociology the laws or principles governing these
in the same manner that sociology is obliged to go to economics
for certain information. Sociology must depend upon
economics in matters involving the production, distribution
and consumption of wealth; economics must depend upon
sociology in matters connected with human association or the
social activities of man. Each is indispensable to the other;
but neither can be said to be a part of the other, altho over-
enthusiastic students of both sciences sometimes make such
assertions. There is a border-ground, claimed more or less
by each, involving such problems as poverty, and the move-
ments and increase of population, where it is hard to draw
the line between the two sciences.

2. Sociology and Political Science. — Political science, or
as it is often called, the science of government, deals with
such problems as the origin, nature, forms, and functions of
the state; the location of sovereignty, and the questions of
administration; it has a relation to sociology very similar to
that of economics to sociology. The state is one of the leading
institutions of society and as such comes in for treatment under
sociology; therefore the origin and development of the state
are phenomena treated by both sciences. Here, however,
political science is more dependent upon sociology than
sociology is upon political science, for political science has to
come to sociology for a knowledge of the principles of social
control and for an understanding of those who are governed,
as well as other basic principles which must be considered
in the administration of government. Sociology uses the facts
of political science chiefly for the purpose of illustrating some
of its general principles. The line between the two is much
clearer than between sociology and economics, and because
of this there is less friction between them.

3. Sociology and History. — History is a more or less
concrete science, and therefore is much more definite than
sociology. It treats of the past actions of man — what man
has done, and how he did it. Sociology must go to history
constantly for material, for information, for illustrations, and

THE NATURE OF SOCIOLOGY 17

for the proof of its principles, as well as for explanation of
its conditions. On the other hand history has to depend
upon sociology for an explanation of the motives prompting
man to act. There is little conflict between sociology and
objective history, altho a few historians would include all
sociology in history; but when it comes to some of the sub-
divisions or branches of history, like historiography and philos-
ophy of history, the lines of distinction fade. Many histor-
ians assert, for illustration, that sociology is little better than
a philosophy of history, altho philosophy of history has never
dealt with more than a very few of the problems of sociology.
On the whole the distinction here is much better drawn than
it is between sociology and economics. Each is dependent
upon the other, altho history could probably get along much
better without sociology than sociology could without history.
History, at any rate, did exist for hundreds of years; altho
it is undoubtedly true that sociology has added much to
history — indeed it has almost revolutionized that science — for
it has added warmth and human interest to what was here-
tofore merely a collection of dry facts. In short sociology has
socialized history and has broadened it. History no longer
concerns itself only with battles, the doings of rulers, and the
acts of the nobility; it gives attention now to the life of the
common people, their standards of living, ideals, habits and
customs, as well as to the acts of their rulers. If this were
the only contribution sociology has made to science, its mission
would be justified.

4. Sociology and Anthropology. — Anthropology, or the
study of man considered zoologically or ethnographically, gen-
erally regarded as a study of ancient man, stands in much
the same relation to sociology as does history. Sociology
uses anthropology as a source book of facts concerning primi-
tive man: his early history and the origin and development
of his institutions, such as the family, the state, and religion.
Anthropology, like history, has been broadened by sociology,
being changed from a mere catalogue of collections to an
attempt to trace the evolution of society from its beginning
to the present. The border ground between these two sciences
extends along so much of the field of anthropology that it is
difficult to tell where anthropology ends and sociology begins,
but anthropology confines itself to ancient man and sociology
deals more with the present or at least historical period.

5. Sociology and Ethics. — The relationship existing

18 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

between sociology and ethics is not so easily traced as it has
been in the cases examined above. Ethics, the science of
morality, deals with what ought to be; it is idealistic, altho
it has to take cognizance of social facts. On the other hand
sociology deals with what has been and with what is. For
such information ethics relies upon sociology, altho ethics does
not attempt to manipulate these facts except insofar as they
relate to what ought to be. Ethics deals with standards,
ideals, and norms. Sociology, while it leads up to ideals,
does not discuss them; it merely considers things as they
are. In other words sociology leads towards ethics, but stops
before reaching it. Ethics, being a science of value and ideals,
invades all realms of activity and attempts to set up standards
of action. It 'is dependent not only upon sociology, but like-
wise upon nearly all the sciences, altho it is supported more
directly by sociology than by any other.

6. Sociology and the Natural Sciences. — For the Sociolo-
gist the most important of the natural sciences is biology. It
furnishes sociology with facts of physical life, particularly
facts of anatomy, of nerve, muscle, and various other func-
tions of the body. Sociology must derive from biology a
knowledge of the laws of heredity and reproduction. Indeed
it must obtain from biology all the facts it needs respecting
animal life. In the same way sociology must go to chemistry,
physics, geology, geography, and the other natural sciences
for information concerning their respective fields. None of
these has, however, much need for such a vague general
science as sociology; in fact these are the foundation sciences,
or better perhaps, the mechanical sciences.

7. Sociology and Psychology. — Psychology, like econom-
ics, is a near neighbor to sociology. Each constantly invades
the other's territory, for the boundaries are hard to distin-
guish at times. Psychology, the science of consciousness, or
of mental action, deals essentially with the individual; while
sociology deals with society or with groups of individuals;
this is the chief distinction between them. To be a sociologist
one must be a psychologist, to understand society one must
know the principles of psychology. For since psychology is
a study of the individual mind, and since society is merely a
collection of individuals, to understand the social mind one
must necessarily understand the individual mind. Altho the
individual will often act and think differently when in a
group from what he would do alone, his mental processes

THE NATURE OP1 SOCIOLOGY 19

are the same. And many of the forces that control human
action, and the interests that prompt man to act, can be
explained only by psychology. Many people look upon
sociology as social psychology, consisting merely of a psychical
analysis of society. While social psychology is a very impor-
tant part of sociology, especially of pure or theoretical
sociology, and, in reality, affects all phases of the science, it
is by no means the whole of it. Social psychology is merely
that side of sociology which faces psychology. It is the
border-land between the two sciences and is of course claimed
by both. Sociology is as dependent upon psychology as
psychology is upon biology; it needs psychology as much as
it needs economics tho probably no more. A number of
sociologists, especially Tarde and Giddings, have taken certain
psychological principles and have built whole systems of society
upon them. This is, of course, carrying the point to the
extreme; but fully to interpret society the sociologist must
recognize the psychical forces abwork and, as far as possible,
explain them.

Other sciences might be mentioned as having some bearing
upon sociology but these which have been discussed are the
most closely related; and of these the most important are
economics, psychology, history and biology.

Several of the sciences touched upon in the preceding para-
graphs form what is generally called the social science group,
because of the close relation each science has to society and
to the others in the group. But as to just what sciences
should be included there is no general concensus of opinion.
Everyone recognizes the validity of sociology, economics,
political science and anthropology and nearly everyone
includes history. Some add ethics and religion, and a few,
psychology. Such a classification is usually made from a
pedagogical point of view, because it helps to straighten the
perplexity liable to arise in the mind of the student. Blackmar
and Gillin1 give perhaps the best classification of the social
sciences, with the principal subheads under each one, as
follows:

I. ETHICS.

Principles of Ethics.

History of Ethics.

Social Ethics.

Outlines of Sociology, pp. 26-27.

20 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

II. ECONOMICS.

Economic Theory and Institutions.

Economic Politics.

Industrial History.

Labor Legislation.

Banking and Monetary Theory.

Taxation and Finance.

III. POLITICS.

Political Theory.

Diplomacy and International Law.

National Administration.

Municipal Administration.

Constitutional Law.

Colonial Administration.

IV. HISTORY.

Political History.
History of Institutions.
Social History.
Historical Geography.

V. SOCIOLOGY.

Descriptive Sociology.
Social Origins.
Social Evolution.
Social Pathology.
Socialization and Social Control.
\ Social Psychology.

History of Sociology.

VI. ANTHROPOLOGY.

General Anthropology.

Ethnology.

Ethnography.

Somatology.

Archeology.

VII. COMPARATIVE RELIGION.

Additions might be made to this list; this classification
is by no means given as the only method of arrangement,
but as perhaps the best one suggested so far. At any rate
it serves our purpose by helping to show the relationship
existing between the sciences commonly called social.

Sociology a General Science. — Sociology has often been
criticized for being too general, too loosely put together; it
has been faulted because it does not draw hard and fast
lines, because it cannot say that such and such will happen.
In chemistry whenever two or more elements are put together
in the same proportions, the result will always be the same
if the affecting conditions are uniform. Likewise in physics

THE NATURE OP1 SOCIOLOGY 21

the laws of the lever, of gravity, etc., always act invariably
when conditions are correspondent. In mathematics results
can be determined accurately; they cannot, in fact, be
obtained otherwise. Chemistry, physics and mathematics are
exact sciences, where definite laws can be formulated.
Sociology does not exhibit such undeviating precision. For
two persons, surrounded with exactly the same environment,
may turn out opposite in character; the one may become an
altruistic social worker, and the other a dangerous criminal;
or the one may become a spendthrift, the other a millionaire.
The factors are .too many and varied to admit the formula-
tion of definite laws. No two persons are alike; hence they
will never act similarly under the same stimulus — if such
can be obtained. Because sociology cannot lay down com-
prehensive laws, many persons go so far as to deny to it
the honor of being called a science. Such criticisms are
becoming fewer as people become more familiar with sociology.
It is being recognized that each science has its own method
and peculiarities. It would be as fair and valid to criticize
biology because it rearranges its theories every now and then;
or to condemn mathematics because it is not an end in itself,
but merely a means by which other sciences reach their objec-
tives; or to berate economics because the economists cannot
agree among themselves as to what interest, rent, and labor
really are, as it is to criticize sociology because it cannot lay
down any definite, hard and fast laws. Sociology has its
laws, but they are not iron-clad; they are rather statements
of tendencies Or generalizations. In short, they are broad
summaries of general conditions, which will be likely to pro-
duce certain, normal results in the majority of cases. The
same is true in tracing periods in social history; seldom can
definite dates be given, at least for humanity in general.
Different races or peoples may adopt the same invention, but
at vastly different dates. They may pass thru like stages
of culture, but at widely varying periods of time. One race
or nation may progress rapidly, while another not far distant
may progress much more slowly. The reason is that the
contributing factors are too many and varied to be all taken
into consideration. In fact, only a few of the most evident
factors are ever known. If we could perceive all the forces
at work and recognize all the determining conditions, then
we might be able to predict as accurately what would happen
as does the chemist when he mixes up various elements.

22 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

Therefore in our study of sociology we shall not meet con-
cisely phrased universal laws, like those with which we become
familiar in mathematics and physics; nevertheless we must
not ignore social laws, for they are equal in importance to
the laws derived in the exact sciences; in the case of sociology
as the complications are greater and the laws are more diffi-
cult to formulate, and hence have to be stated as tendencies
and generalizations. Moreover we must not condemn
sociology if it uses the same facts of society that other sciences
use, for it, too, has a right to use these facts. Because
sociology is one of the most recently developed sciences its
limitations are not so well fixed as those of the older sciences;
yet the point of view is distinct from that of any other science ;
sociology owes no apology for existing.

Sociology deals with phenomena, the principles and facts
of human association. In discussing these we must notice the
origin and development of society, the interests prompting
human action and the forces controlling man, and the present
organization of society, as well as the problems confronting
society. In following this general plan we shall first study
population — the effect of nature upon population, human
migration and the mixture of races; this will lead us to our
present day problems of immigration and the negro. Second,
we shall trace the evolution of society, giving special atten-
tion to the family, the state and religion. Third, we shall
analyze the organization of present day society, first in its
normal or healthy aspect, then in its abnormal or pathological
aspect; and finally we may take a glimpse into the future
in an attempt to outline forthcoming social progress.

REFERENCES

ELLWOOD, Sociology and Modern Social Problems, Chaps. I and III.
ELLWOOD, Sociology in Its Psychological Aspects, Chaps. I to VI, inc.
BLACKMAR AND GELLIN, Outlines of Sociology, Part I.
HAYES, Introduction to the Study of Sociology, Chaps. I and II.
WRIGHT, Outline of Practical Sociology, Chap. I.
WARD, Pure Sociology, Chap. III.
GIDDINGS, Principles of Sociology, Chap. II.
DEALEY AND WARD, Text-Book of Sociology, Chaps. I, II and III.
Ross, Foundations of Sociology, Chaps. I, II, III and IV.
FAIRBANKS, Introduction to Sociology, pp. 1-68.
WARD, Outlines of Sociology.
SMALL, General Sociology, Part I.

PARMELEE, Science of Human Behavior. For biological and psychological
foundations of sociology.

PART TWO
POPULATION

23

CHAPTER II

MAN AND NATURE
OR

THE INFLUENCE OF GEOGRAPHIC ENVIRONMENT
UPON THE DEVELOPMENT OF SOCIETY

The influence of geographic environment upon society, is
an influence which many writers ignore entirely, and one
which a few, especially Buckle and Miss Semple, emphasize
far more than there is any reason to do. In this chapter that
influence will be considered as one of the molders of civiliza-
tion, but not as the chief factor.

Influence Upon Population. — The survival of man as
a race of beings has always depended to a great extent upon
nature, for it is to nature that he has to look for sustenance.
This dependence was much greater with primitive than it
is with civilized man, for primitive man lived by the direct
appropriation of the gifts of nature. He subsisted upon
berries, fruits, nuts, shellfish, and, in fact, anything edible
on which he could lay his hands. Since his very existence
was thus dependent upon nature, he had to live in those
localities where food could be obtained. Later when he
added fish to his bill of fare he was drawn toward the streams
and the seashore in order to get this more staple form of
food; when he began to hunt he moved to the regions where
game could be found. Still later when he began to domesti-
cate animals he sought the grassy regions where his cattle could
feed. And when agriculture was also added as a means of
providing food he was more than ever beholden to nature
because the cultivation of the crops could be successfully
pursued only where the soil was of sufficient richness, where
there was a sufficient amount of rainfall, and where the climate
provided the right temperature. The adoption of each new
method of getting food made man no less dependent upon
nature; it simply made him less dependent upon one particular

25

26 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

condition of nature. If one means of subsistence failed he
had the others to fall back upon.

The climate that man lives in determines to a great extent
the amount and kind of food he needs. The objects of food
are to give warmth to the body and repair tissues worn by
bodily activity. If man lives in a cold region he not only
must have more food than if he lives in a warm region but
it must be of a different kind; it must supply greater heat,
and hence must be made up more of fats. Also in a cold
climate greater exertion is necessary to provide a living; hence
the amount of waste matter worn out by the body is greater
and more food is required. In a warm region less exertion
is necessary — in fact little is desired; as a result there is
a minimum of waste and less need consequently of fats;
fruits are preferred for food. Moreover in the warm climates
food is abundant; because slight exertion is necessary little
ingenuity is required; hence as we shall find out later, the
warm regions never produce the sturdy, ingenious races of
people that the colder regions develop. This is one reason
why practically all conquering races come from the north,
and why a great continent like Africa and an immense terri-
tory like India are easily conquered by small European nations.
Indeed all thru the past it has been from the north that the
conquering races have come. The very fact that these peoples
had to work indefatigably to make a living made them ener-
getic and resourceful; their constant, keen battle with nature
and their struggles to endure hardships made them brave and
fearless. On the other hand, those peoples living in a warm
region where food was abundant did not have to worry about
the future; they were able to support themselves with little
work; they became therefore indolent, unresourceful and timid.

Before trade and commerce were developed enuf to bring
in food from other places, the amount of food produced by
any region determined the number of people who could live
there. This explains why we find civilization first develop-
ing in the rich river valleys of the Tigris-Euphrates and the
Nile; for, because these regions were able to support a large
population, many people came into contact with each other,
exchanged ideas, so progressed more rapidly than in other
regions where, because of the scarcity of the food supply,
only a few could live. Land used for grazing will not support
a large population but it will support more than if it were
used for hunting, for domestic animals can be raised on a

MAN AND NATURE; 27

smaller space than that required by wild animals sufficiently
numerous to supply food. Fishing will support a larger popu-
lation than hunting or grazing, if the fish are abundant, as
in a large lake, river, or sea. Agriculture will provide for
still more; but even here the kinds of plants cultivated have
to be considered. Potatoes, for example, require much less
space than corn or wheat; bananas require even less than
potatoes. Where population increases, more intensive methods
of cultivation are used, the plants being grown which require
little space. Thus the population which a region can support
depends upon its soil, its rainfall, and its temperature, unless
a deficiency is made up in some other way. In modern times
trade, commerce and manufacturing have been developed as
substitutes for the basic occupations, enabling the people to
produce other commodities to exchange for food. If Great
Britain and the New England states were not able to manu-
facture goods to exchange they would not be able to support
the dense populations which they do.

Effect on the Life of the People. — Geographical con-
ditions not only affect the food supply but also determine
almost every phase of the life of the people. The climate
determines whether much or little clothing is required. In
the case of animals nature regulates this herself, supplying a
coat of fur or hair to offset a falling in the temperature.
Man is not thus looked after but is required to provide for
himself. However, in cold regions furs and feathers can
be obtained, while in the warm regions, reeds, grasses, fibres
and barks can be used, man nearly always finding at hand
the commodities necessary to provide suitable clothing. This
matter is not so important as one would perhaps think, for,
as we shall see later, the wearing of clothing developed for the
sake of ornament rather than for protection to the body. The
case of shelter is much the same; in warm countries little is
needed; in colder regions more must be provided. Probably
the most important effect is the fact that the scramble for
food, clothing, and shelter in the colder regions develops energy
and resourcefulness — characteristics which are not so well
developed in the warmer zones.

Effect Upon Economic Development. — The country
in which people live also determines their occupation. If
there is an abundance of game man will hunt; if the streams
are well stocked with fish he will fish. If the country is suit-
able for grazing, he will domesticate animals and become

28 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

pastoral. If the soil is productive he will become an agri-
culturalist. If he lives on the coast, where he can get
materials for ships, and is not too strongly tempted by the
productiveness of the land, he will become a sailor. If a
group of people is located between peoples who are engaged
in different occupations, as agricultural tribes on one side
and pastoral on the other, it is likely to become a commercial
race, exchanging the commodities of its neighbors. The devel-
opment of various industries among nations of the world has
been largely owing to the geographical conditions which sur-
round those countries. England has become an industrial
nation because of her poor soil, abundance of fuel and dense
population. Because of exactly opposite conditions Denmark
has become a highly developed agricultural nation. China
became largely agricultural because of her rich river valleys.
The Phoenecians, the Carthagenians, the Venetians, the Dutch
and later the English and the Germans took up commerce
because of locations favorable to it, coupled with other induce-
ments, as excess populations, and insufficient natural resources.
The American Indians remained primarily hunters because
of an abundance of game and the thinness of the population.
In fact the economic life of every nation has been molded,
to a great extent, by geographic conditions. For not only
has the occupation chosen by man — or perhaps we ought to
say, the occupation forced upon him — been largely the result
of nature, but also the success with which he has followed it
is ascribable to natural conditions. If man were not able to
produce more than he consumes, there would be nothing left
over to serve as capital; hence there would be no industry,
little leisure time, no education, and slight progress in civili-
zation. Tibet, the Arctic regions, and the Caucasus are good
examples of this state of affairs; furthermore they are so sit-
uated that they could not develop commerce or industry. If
we regard the different sections of the United States, we can
find many illustrations of the influence of natural conditions.
The great fertile regions of the Central States and the rich
sections scattered over the country, such as the Mississippi
valley and those found in California, Oregon, and Washington,
are given over to agriculture; the hilly districts of New
England are devoted to manufacturing and small gardening;
that portion lying just west of the farming section, being
too poor for the best farming, is taken up with cattle and
sheep ranches. Each locality tries to do that for which it

MAN AND NATURE; 29

is best adapted. In recent years this has come to be adopted
more and more as the policy of nations, that each country
must try to produce those things for which it is best fitted
and not try to produce every thing that it consumed.

Effect Upon Human Institutions. — In the case of gov-
ernment we notice that the kind developed is largely the
result of geographic environment. The development of
democracy in the city-states of Greece was made possible by
the mountain ranges which cut the country up into small
sections. When the region is vast and yet remains isolated
from other countries, conditions are much more favorable to
the establishment of empires and unlimited monarchies, like
those developed in Assyria, Persia, Russia and China. In
countries where the people come into contact with those of
other nations and have more opportunity to observe and think,
we find the common people having a voice in the government,
and the development of constitutional monarchies, free cities,
and republics.

In regions made difficult to control because of inaccessible
isolation we find lawlessness, brigandage, and absence of reg-
ular government; such have been the Caucasus, Afghanistan
and Tibet, and such was, at the time of the arrival of the
English, Northern India. Swamps, islands and mountains
furnish refuges for pirates, brigands and other outlaws. The
number of such places in the United States made a great
problem of law enforcement in the early days of the West.
The Highlanders of Scotland were known as a lawless people
even after Scotland as a whole became a very highly developed
country. The Kurds and Tartars have always been thorns
in the flesh of their neighbors; punishment of their outrages
has been hindered by the geography of their countries. It
has often been used in this country, as an argument against
prohibition that in such sections as the mountain districts of
Kentucky the law could not be enforced because of the wild-
ness of parts of the country. So, while other factors, racial
stock, for example, must be taken into consideration, the
geographical features of the country do undoubtedly have
a great influence on the development of government and the
enforcement of law in that country.

Policies of nations, such for instance, a nation's colonial
policy, are often dictated or at least influenced by geographic
environment; that is, they are suggested or forced upon the
country because of its location and expanding population.

30 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

Policies of free trade or protection are determined by location
and occupation. England favors free trade because she cannot
produce raw materials and must import them along with her
food supply; if she can get other countries to admit her man-
ufactured products she gains thus much. The United States
formerly was in the opposite situation and therefore held to
the policy of protection; our increasing population is gradually
changing our interests, and consequently, our tariff policy.

In regard to religion, we observe a psychical effect of a
man's geographical location upon him, not only because of
the nature of the atmosphere, the appearance of the sky, and
the breadth of landscape, but also because of his occupation,
which as we have already noticed, is itself largely determined
by geographic features. We find that the great religions of
the world have been given us by shepherd peoples, who have
had opportunity to ponder over the mysteries of life; their
beliefs were affected by direct contact with nature on the
plains, where they could not help being impressed by the
clear sky, the broadness of the view, and, as they led their
flocks into the mountains in summer, by the grandeur of the
scenery. On the contrary, we find, as a result of the com-
plexity of life and the hidden dangers from beasts and reptiles,
the religions of peoples living in the tropics saturated with
magic and superstition. These tropical inhabitants could not
explain nature, hence they thot its workings caused by
spirits, which could be appeased only by magic.

Many social institutions, like slavery, have been fostered
or prevented by the nature of the country. Slavery is gen-
erally confined to warm regions, where labor is irksome and
food abundant, where the work of one man can support two
and where the slave can be fed and clothed at little expense.
In the United States slavery died out in the North because it
was unprofitable; it flourished in the South because the slave
could be worked to advantage on the large plantations. In
the hilly regions of the South, particularly eastern Kentucky,
eastern Tennessee, western Virginia, the western part of the
Carolinas, and northern Georgia, slavery never did prosper
and much of this territory favored the North in the Civil
War. Likewise in Africa and Asia, slavery has flourished
in those regions where the climate makes labor objectionable
and where the occupation allows slave labor to be profitably
employed. It is a fact that literature and education develop
more in the northern or temperate climates; there is also more

MAN AND NATURE; 31

democracy and equality in these regions, especially in those
countries which are so located as to allow the inhabitants
to come into contact with those of others.

Influence Upon the Family. — The position of woman
in the family is governed largely by her importance as a pro-
vider. If her work is more important than that of her hus-
band she either rules the family or has a great deal to say
about the management of the home. When her work is a
minor element she is relegated to the background. This is
noticed in pastoral peoples, where she cannot tend the herds
and as a result sinks into the position of a chattel. The same
is true of hunting races, only here she is compelled to do the
dirty work about the camp and become a drudge. Where life
is cheap or living is hard we find infanticide practiced. In
most of Africa woman occupies a place little better than that
of a slave, while in the temperate zones she occupies a posi-
tion more nearly equal to that of man.

Influence Upon the Character of the People. — The
character of the people is influenced largely by geographic
environment. As we have noticed the colder climates produce
the warrior class, since these people from the colder countries
have greater energy, courage, and ingenuity, while those in
the warmer countries are more inclined to be indolent and
improvident. The inhabitants of the warmer regions, as a
rule, are more artistic, imaginative, and idealistic, their imag-
ination being stimulated by their environment. They are
also more hot-headed and impulsive, and have a lower esti-
mate of the value of human life; life is easier with them,
of less consequence; hence they are more apt to take life.
Because of the greater exertion required, the northern peoples
are as a rule hardier and more muscular unless the climate is
so severe as to stunt thru failure to provide sufficient nourish-
ment. On the whole the tropics have a deadening effect while
the colder regions of the temperate zone have a stimulating
effect.

Influence Upon Human Migration. — We find that the
movements of man have been governed by the geography of
his country. If hemmed in by mountains, he was prevented
from migration; if he lived on a plain, he could not keep
from wandering. In his movements man has followed the
tracks of least resistence, following river valleys, instead of
climbing mountains, going around seas instead of crossing
them. In short he has gone where nature has allowed him

32 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

to go. Deserts, swamps, mountains, oceans, seas, and even
rivers have held him back, while the plain, the river valley,
and the coast line have tempted him to roam into new fields.
America was not settled until very late in the history of man
because he could not get here. Europe on the contrary, being
easily entered was settled early. Products of countries have
lured man on. The fur trade in Siberia, Alaska, and northern
Canada, was in fact, a great element in the settling of these
countries. Ivory and rubber have drawn the European into
Africa and South America, while gold and silver have lured
him to the uttermost parts of the world, as the Klondike,
northern Siberia, South Africa, Australia and Peru.

Effect on Recreation. — Even games and sports have been
determined by the geographical location. In the colder regions
strenuous sports are indulged in, from the necessity to keep
warm. The favorite games of the temperate are football,
baseball, tennis, running, jumping, and similar games demand-
ing muscular energy. Still farther north we find skiing, snow
shoeing and skating — sports utterly impossible in warm regions.
In the tropics, exercise is not only not demanded but is
irksome; hence recreation takes the form of inactivity, resting
and avoidance of effort. We find Hindus and Chinese looking
down upon Europeans because they indulge in violent sports,
asking if it were not possible to hire coolies to play tennis
or football and thus avoid the strenuous exercise; for them
recreation is to sit still and do nothing.

Influence on Social Progress. — Whether a race or
nation has advanced in the scale of civilization, or whether it
has remained a backward people is largely a question of loca-
tion. The peoples who have had a favorable location — in the
temperate zone, on land which is productive and hence in
demand, or on the coast where they can come into contact
with others through trade or commerce; advance much more
rapidly than those who are forced through some undesirable
region, where they come into contact with few other peoples.
Also the fact that people in the temperate zone have a distinct
advantage over those in the tropics where nature is too gen-
erous and where vitality is sapped, is of great importance
in producing social progress. The size and strength of a
nation is determined by its boundaries; the mountains, seas,
deserts, and swamps keep it from expanding, and from advanc-
ing in civilization. In fact we find our backward peoples
living in the inaccessible regions of the world, e.g., Tibet,

MAN AND NATURE; 33

Afghanistan, the jungles of Africa, or the out-of-the-way spots
of the earth, like Australia, Madagascar and Tera del Fuego.
Whether a country is located in the interior or on the coast
has much to do with its development, the interior location
allowing expansion; it also offers opportunity for conquest,
altho it does not allow as great intercourse with other peoples
as a coast location. On the whole we find that the country
which combines a large interior with a favorable coast region
has a distinct advantage over the country that has only one
of those features. The United States is very fortunate in
having both; also France, Germany, and China have both.
The nation that has but one strives for the other; Russia has
striven for centuries for favorable outlets to the sea. The
United States, in the early days of its history had the coast,
but was not content till she added an extensive interior. The
influence of many small countries, like Phcenecia, Greece,
England, and Holland, has largely been made possible by
their position. Location between two important countries
allows the acquisition of the culture and civilization of both
but it offers the danger of being overrun by either. Yet, on
the other hand, we find that the struggle for existence becomes
a struggle for space and that the superior races take posses-
sion of the best land, crowd the inferior races into the unde-
sirable locations, invade the domain of weaker peoples, and
take it away from them; so we see that location is not every-
thing. Yet in general favorable location is a great help
towards progress; unfavorable location is a handicap and check
upon advancement. This is one of the chief reasons why
certain races have advanced and others have not done so.
In order to study this still better let us consider in more detail
the influences of the different geographical factors, as water,
mountains, plains, and climate, upon man's development.

Influence of Water Upon Man. — Man has always been
essentially a land animal and has gone on the water only in
quest of food and economic gain. While he has often settled
near the sea or a river it has been because of the nearness
to a supply of food and because of protection, the sea insur-
ing him against surprise in that quarter and the river at least
causing the enemy delay before crossing, thus giving him time
to defend himself. Man has even gone out into the water
to build his home upon islands, or even sometimes on piles,
so as to obtain a greater sense of security. Such houses
have been found among the Malays and in the Swiss lakes;
(A)

34 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

history tells us that they were once resorted to near Thebes,
affording the Greeks a refuge against the invading Persians.
The sea has furnished man with an important addition to
his food, thus permitting him to live in places otherwise unin-
habitable, and has enabled him to go farther north than he
could have done without its help. Barren regions are thereby
made to support a denser population than they otherwise could
do, as in the case of Newfoundland, Norway, Alaska, and
Japan. In fact fisheries have been a great factor in maritime
expansion, helping to people such regions as Alaska and the
northeastern part of the United States. They have acted also
as nurseries of seamen, leading to the commercial activities
of New England in former days of the Dutch, and of the
Scandinavians.

The control over water has been a great factor in civiliza-
tion, and has been a subject of wars between nations thrtiout
history. Such was the contest between the Greeks and the
Phoenecians over the control of the Aegean Sea; of the Car-
thaginians and the Romans over the Mediterranean; of France
and England over certain fisheries, and of the United States
with France and England over fishing rights. Control over
inland seas, lakes, and harbors is of vast importance. Coasts
are outlets to commerce and expansion, and inlets to inven-
tions, improvements and new ideas; because of this harbors
are highly prized. The control over rivers is of equal impor-
tance for rivers are highways of expansion and act as inter-
mediaries between land and sea. A country with navigable
rivers has an immense advantage over one without them. The
Mississippi, Ohio, and Missouri rivers have been of inesti-
mable value to this country, especially during its early devel-
opment. Russia is handicapped by the facts that many of
her rivers empty into the polar regions and that she has been
unable to get a really serviceable seaport. Germany, like the
United States, has a decided advantage in this respect. The
control over the mouth of a river is of great strategic impor-
tance, since traffic becomes more important the nearer it gets
to the mouth, controlling both exports and imports. This
formerly was of more importance than it is now since the
introduction of the railroad. The United States was forced
to gain control of the mouth of the Mississippi for the sake
of national and economic development. The Mediterranean
Sea has always been handicapped by not having navigable
rivers flowing into it, an early invasion of commerce and

MAN AND NATURE 35

civilization more than a few miles from the coast thus being
prevented. The Baltic, on the contrary, has been of great
value.

Coastal peoples, if their coast is accessible, always have
an advantage over interior peoples because the coast acts as
a zone of transition, a meeting place for different cultures
and civilizations. It is a place where peoples from other
countries may land, bring their ideas, habits, customs, and
inventions; it acts as a gateway — an outlet for colonization
and exportation, and an inlet for immigration and importation.

Colonies are always or nearly always planted near the shore ;
islands and peninsulas are first settled because they first come
into the view of the explorers; then they offer means of com-
munication and an easy retreat in case of need to the home
country. Later, colonization spreads inland and occupies
better territory. In the same way that peninsulas stretch out
into the sea, rivers, bays, and harbors reach inland and carry
the contact of the sea with them, bringing commerce and rapid
development.

If the coast is cut off from the interior by mountains, or
has no suitable harbors, as is the case with much of Africa,
or is marshy, as at the mouth of the Nile, commerce will not
come. If on the other hand, there are harbors, easy access
to the interior, and articles of commerce near at hand, as in
New England, Great Britain, Germany, Holland, and France,
we find commerce developing rapidly. If, however, the interior
is very rich — much richer than the coast — the coast will not
tempt and the sea will not be utilized, such being the case
with much of Africa.

Because of these advantages coast peoples are usually supe-
rior to those in the interior, that is, if the coast is favorable.
If inaccessible, or barren, or out of the track of commerce,
of course the opposite is true. But as a rule coastal people
develop first. If we take a glance at Asia we notice that
civilization and progress stick very closely to the coast, and
that coastal people are far superior to the inhabitants of the
interior. They are generally of mixed racial stock because
of the mingling of different peoples. Location on inland seas
has much the same advantage as that on the ocean; in fact
such locations have acted earlier as means of intercourse and
as cradles of ocean commerce, for inland seas have not held
back people by the fear of the water as the ocean has. Altho
at first the ocean held man back, acting as a barrier, with

36 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

%

the development of commerce the coast has become an aid
to expansion; yet for political expansion it has not been as
favorable as plains. Favorable location on the water has
been the most potent factor in the advance of such nations
as Phoenecia, Carthage, Holland, and England, and was one
of the chief reasons for the rise of Greece and Rome. Coastal
peoples are generally characterized by fearlessness and daring,
not only because of the risks of their occupations, but also
because colonists are ordinarily the boldest and most venture-
some of people. Therefore the coasts receive the daring and
enterprising men and women of other nations; and similarly
the reckless and irresponsible. Coastal people, because of the
great variety of food offered them, generally are well fed and
strong physically.

With the development of world commerce the ocean has had
a unifying influence, has brot together all nations and thus
has carried the improvements and inventions of each locality
to every other locality. By furnishing a cheap and quick
means of transportation the water has made man a cosmopol-
itan being. With the discovery of America European civili-
zation was brot to America and the contributions that America
had to make, such as the potato, maize, and the wealth of
her mines, fisheries, and later her farms, were added to what
Europe already had. So important to man has been the navi-
gation of the sea that in recent years the neutrality of the
seas has been accepted as a principle of international law.

Islands show a much greater variety of influences than
coasts, some of which are favorable, resulting from the loca-
tion of the islands in the track of commerce, as Japan, Hawaii,
and the Philippines, and some of which, resulting from the
remoteness of the islands, are unfavorable. Islanders gener-
ally resemble the people of the countries from which they
come, sometimes improving upon them, as formerly in Crete,
and sometimes falling backward. Islands were settled in many
cases as places of refuge. With the development of transpor-
tation by water islands have lost their security and have been
placed at a decided disadvantage. Because of their limited
area their ability to defend themselves is generally small and
they fall easy victims to conquest. Athens had little trouble
in holding in subjection the members of the Delian League;
and Crete has since the beginning of history, almost, been
subject to some nation. Sardinai, Corsica, and Sicily have
been similarly held. All the islands of the East Indias are

MAN AND NATURE 37

controlled by European powers, except the Philippines, and
they were until recently. Nearly all the islands of the West
Indias have been similarly held; all would have been but
for the United States. The islands of the Pacific are owned
by the different powers of the world; in fact, Japan is the
only really independent island nation. Islands, especially
those that are barren and inhospitable, are often used as
prisons for convicts and political offenders: Sakhalin, New
Caledonia, St. Helen, Elbe, and Devil's Island being among
the most noted of these. They are also used for city prisons;
BlackwelPs Island and Deer Island thus serving for New York
and Boston respectively.

Islands have often been places of survival of primitive
peoples, customs and habits. In fact after an island has been
left outside of the track of progress it generally remains
stationary while the rest of the world advances. Islands have
been the homes of some of the most primitive races that we
have discovered ; illustrations are Ceylon, Borneo, Madagascar,
and New Zealand.

Islands generally are the tops of mountains sticking out
of the ocean and because of this are often barren and unpro-
ductive; quite frequently it is a problem for the inhabitants
to live. Often artificial checks to population have been
resorted to, such as infanticide, limitation of children thru
mutilation, late marriages and even cannibalism. On the other
hand, the supply of fish often allows a large population;
sometimes when the living is hard, greater ingenuity is devel-
oped thereby. Since as a rule island climates are favorable,
islands often become resorts. The pleasant climate frequently
makes people care-free in disposition, and because they meet
many strangers in the way of commerce, and trade, if the
islands are in the trade routes, they become hospitable. This
is especially true if the islanders themselves learn to travel
about.

Influences of Mountain Environment. — The effect of
mountains as barriers we have already suggested, both as to
how they shut people up within their own ranges and keep
others out — results of equal importance. Mountains prevent
not only expansion and invasion but also progress, shutting
out new ideas, improvements and inventions. They hinder
the inhabitants from coming into contact with others and tend
to create a spirit of suspicion in regard to strangers. At the
same time, however, a spirit of hardihood and independence

38 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

is developed. Mountain people always become fierce fighters
and are seldom conquered, and if so, at deadly expense. Moun-
tain states are rather numerous, such as Switzerland, Monte-
negro, Abbyssinia, Afghanistan, and Tibet. Altho small and
partly barbarian these otherwise insignificant states have
nevertheless maintained their independence. Life is often
hard and consequently primitive conditions frequently prevail,
like those found in Tibet, Abbyssinia, and Montenegro. As
suggested before they become places of refuge for the
oppressed; in fact, the Caucasus is said to be the grave of
races, nations, religions, customs, habits and ideals. The Rou-
manians have saved themselves a number of times by retiring
into the Carpathians and letting the invaders pass on. The
mountains have also been places of refuge for criminals and
the lawless classes; frequently we find mountaineers with ma-
rauding tendencies, being addicted to cattle stealing, brigand-
age, and plundering in general; the Afghans, Kurds, and the
Scottish Highlanders have been noted for this. They also
furnish mercenary soldiers ; the Swiss were so employed thruout
Europe for a long period of time. Because of a lack of occu-
pations the mountain laborers often descend into the valleys;
the Wallachs, Tyrolians, and other mountain inhabitants of
the Carpathians and Alps send thousands into the valleys
each year to help in the planting and harvesting of the crops.
Mountain peoples are thus characterized by their independ-
ence, individualism, frugality, courage, and strong will, and
they furnish the world sturdy races. They also are imagina-
tive and religious, the grandeur of the hills impressing them
in much the same way as the limitless plains do the dwellers
therein.

Influence of Plains, Steppes, and Deserts. — The influ-
ence of plains is of two kinds resulting from the fact that
plains are of two classes — the plains which are productive,
and those which are unproductive and barren. The former,
as we have seen, produce pastoral and agricultural occupa-
tions, and allow political expansion and the building up of
vast empires. The influences that encourage uniformity of
government and occupation also are effective in all forms of
activity. The plains swallow up nationalities, languages and
customs; they tend always to produce uniformity. There is
no chance for separation, no opportunity for individualism.
Russia, for example has greater uniformity than almost any
other great nation.

MAN AND NATURE; 39

The inhabitants of the deserts and barren wastes, such as
are found in the Sahara, in Arabia, and in Mongolia, are gen-
erally pastoral or commercial by occupation, but they lack
uniformity. They go in bands, and are often, in fact, usually
are, addicted to marauding and to sweeping down upon their
more prosperous neighbors to carry off their wealth. Their
mobility is great; it is often compulsory, because of scarcity
of provisions. Many are compelled to migrate with the
seasons, going to the hills during the hot season to find pas-
turage and back to the plains during the brief wet season.
This compulsory roaming makes them nomadic, and they
easily form bands for plundering. Their life being hard they
are fearless, ingenious, and watchful, and they make excellent
fighters; no better cavalry can be found anywhere than the
Russian Cossacks. Plainsmen seldom unite in large armies;
the Mohammedan conquest was an exceptional occurrence,
made possible because of religious fanaticism. As a rule when
they do conquer any region they seldom interfere with the
life of the common people, supplanting only the ruling class,
as the Manchus did in China and as the Shepherd Kings did
in Egypt. On the other hand these people are hard to con-
quer because of the ease of retreat and the difficulty of
pursuit. Hence the inhabitants of these regions of the world
have nearly always maintained their independence in spite
of powerful neighbors. The Arabs have enjoyed practical
independence; the same is true of the Mongols and the inhab-
itants of northern Africa. Because of scant diet such plains-
men are compelled to be frugal and are as a rule active,
sinewy, energetic people. They are proud, even to the point
of obstinacy, because of their independent, roaming life.

These people act as middlemen for the more productive
regions near them; the goods formerly were brought from
the East to Europe by caravans of these wanderers of the
desert, this method is used in northern Africa today. In con-
nection with this trade they have developed desert markets
or trading centers; Timbucktoo in Africa and Bagdad and
Damascus in Asia Minor formerly were famed as commercial
centers. In this trade they have trafficked in slaves, thus
helping to keep alive this institution. But probably the great-
est contribution of these peoples towards civilization has been
the religious concepts they formed and promulgated. In his-
tory they have played an erratic but important role.

40 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

Influence of Climate. — The influence of climate has been
both physiological and psychological. It has fixed limits to
human habitation, determined the productivity of the soil, and
affected to some extent man's whole life. It has affected him
both directly and indirectly; directly by affecting him phys-
ically, pinching him with cold and melting him with heat; indi-
rectly by determining his food supply, both vegetable and
animal. The amount of rainfall determines the productive-
ness of the soil; for it is only in the last few years that man
has been able to farm on a large scale without rain, altho
irrigation as a means of supplying water is very ancient.
Climate has compelled man to migrate, a bad climate forcing
him to leave and a good climate tempting him to come. It
has affected human institutions, influencing the family by
causing early marriages, many children, and little regard for
life in warm climates, and late marriages and few children in
colder ones. It has affected government, despotism existing
more often in warm, unhealthful climates and democracy in
cool, temperate zones. Religion has been poorly developed in
the tropics largely because of the depressing climate and the
lack of incentive for mental exertion. Slavery, as we have
noticed, has been fostered in climates where work is irksome.
In warm climates we find as a rule greater extremes of
wealth and poverty, wages being poor because of the low
cost of labor, and at times because of competition with slave
labor. Moreover a warm climate especially if continuous,
has a detrimental effect, deadening the nerves; in fact, the
individual or the race going to the tropics or to a warm,
moist climate rapidly deteriorates. People in these regions
become easy going, hot-headed, yet imaginative and artistic,
while those in colder climates are calmer, more thotful, and
provident. Temperate zones offer a greater variety of climate,
it being cold in winter and warm in summer, thus making
possible a larger variety of occupations and furnishing a greater
stimulation for the nerves. For this reason we find the nations
located in the temperate zones more energetic, ambitious, and
successful; as a result the north temperate zone is known as
the cradle of civilization. Extreme cold produces much the
same result as extreme warmth in that it becomes monotonous
and hence has a deadening effect. Not only the history but
also the location and the size of the present nations of the
world partly result from geographic conditions. Nature sets
their boundaries, determines to a great extent their economic

MAN AND NATURE 41

activity, influences their institutions and daily life and helps
mold their character and determines their chances of success
in the advance of civilization. Yet we must not go to the
extreme by saying that geography is everything; it is only
one of the factors to be considered in studying the life of
man. It may be very important but it is not all by any
means; other contributing forces must be considered, such as
heredity and human instincts; in fact, economic, biological,
and psychological factors are fully as important as geographic.

REFERENCES

SEMPLE, ELLEN C., Influence of Geographic Environment.

SEMPLE, ELLEN C., American History and Its Geographic Conditions.

BUCKLE, H. T., Introduction to the History of Civilization in England,

Chap. II., also found in CARVER, Sociology and Social Progress,

pp. 174-270.
VAN HiSE, CHARLES R.( The Conservation of Natural Resources in the

United States.

CHAPTER III
INCREASE OF POPULATION

We do not know just where, when and how population
began. We know that man originated somewhere in or near
what is now Asia Minor, but we probably shall never be able
to put our finger on the exact place; all we know is that our
earliest records point to his first appearance in that region.
As to time we are more in doubt; some insist that it was
only a few thousand years ago, while others estimate that
it has been millions of years since man first came to earth.
In all probability the age of man is somewhere between one
hundred thousand and a million years; at any rate that esti-
mate is as good a guess as we are able to make. Human
history, or the record of civilized man, goes back only six
thousand years, but that is a very short time in comparison
with the life of man before he reached the stage of civiliza-
tibn. As to how man originated we are even more uncer-
tain than we are in regard to when or where; whether we
have all descended from a single pair, from many pairs, or
from some group larger than a pair we do not know; the
Bible itself is not clear in regard to this — at least our inter-
pretation of the Bible does not clear up the matter. The
theory of polygenesis (several origins for man) is not now
generally held; in fact all evidence points toward a single
place of origin. Many students of the subject have attempted
to work out a definite theory of evolution for man, showing
the different steps 'fey which he has evolved from some extinct
form of the anthropoid ape; but the best of these attempts
have been obliged to bridge great gaps and to weave in as
much theory and supposition as fact, and every one of them
is in some respects unsatisfactory. Such a study is outside of
the realm of this work, in fact outside the real field of
sociology, belonging to her sister science anthropology. At
any rate man began either with a single pair or with a very
small group at the most, and has rapidly increased in number.
The present indications are that he has by no means stopped

42

INCREASE OF POPULATION 43

or even seriously checked his rate of increase, except in a
few countries. In fact, man has increased in number much
more rapidly since he has become civilized than before.
Living has become easier and life more certain. The dan-
gers have decreased while the means of subsistence have
increased. Improvements and inventions have allowed more
people to live in a unit of space than formerly. Man's
increase at first was slow and many tribes and even races
perished entirely; for long periods of time he was able to
do little more than hold his own. The races given by nature
an advantage over other races have increased. The pressure
of population is keenly felt in some countries, especially China,
India, Japan and Italy. This is not a new phenomenon; on
the contrary it is older than civilization itself. Pressure of
population was the cause of man's scattering out over the
earth ; but now that all the earth has been explored and
populated, and all the best land taken, we often wonder if
a time will come when the population will be too great for
the earth to support. This is not causing people to worry so
much now as it did one hundred years ago, for in some coun-
tries the pressure is not so great as it was then because relief
has been given by increase in production and improvement
in commerce.

The Malthusian Theory of Population. — Over one
hundred years ago Malthus published his famous work Essay
on Population, which went thru several editions and has been
handed down since that time as a classic; in this book Mal-
thus declared that population tended to increase faster than
the means of subsistence. At first he tried to prove this by
showing that the means of subsistence increased in arith-
metical proportion, while population increased in geometrical
proportion; he later abandoned such attempts at demonstra-
tion of the theory. This theory has been under discussion
since that time, many advocating it, many opposing it and
others merely qualifying -it. Malthus went on to point out
that there were two methods of checking or holding popula-
tion down to the food supply; (1) positive, as war, famine,
disease, vice, and poverty, and (2) negative or artificial checks,
like late marriages, celibacy, and control of the birth rate.
He attempted to prove that if we did not exercise the latter,
the former would operate. Malthus believed that poverty was
the direct result of this increase of population as it created
a surplus of workers, who kept wages down; he went so far

44 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

as to posit this as the chief cause of all misery and wretch-
edness. In his conclusion we cannot of course agree; indeed
his general theory is not proved by modern conditions. The
principle may have worked among primitive peoples and may
be true when applied to a stationary, unprogressive popula-
tion, but it does not apply to modern society. Malthus was
unable to foresee the inventions and discoveries of modern
times which have increased the food supply, like reapers,
binders, plows, corn planters, and potato diggers, modern
methods of preserving and canning vegetables and fruits, and
intensive methods of agriculture. Progress in these things has
more than kept pace with the increase in population, for in
reality a constantly decreasing percentage of our population
has been able to produce the world's food supply. Then, too,
Malthus did not take into consideration the ability of man
to co-operate to greater advantage as population became
denser. As population has increased man has been able to
make more economical divisions of labor, using more efficient
methods of applying labor, and thru new inventions and dis-
coveries bring about greater means of production. Thus man
is constantly able to produce more in shorter periods of time
and the working day for the laboring man is steadily being
shortened thruout the entire world, especially in the more
advanced and thickly populated countries. So as a result
Malthus' theory is of little value to us altho he did a great
work and contributed much to science. Other theories of
population have been postulated, among which is that of
Dumont, the French economist and sociologist, who suggests
that society is like a sponge in that it will allow as large a
population as industry can care for; that if a country has
opportunties, like those of Argentine, Canada, or Alaska, the
population will increase, but if there are no opportunities the
population will not increase. Altho history does not always
prove this theory it is very interesting and somewhat plausible.
A new country with opportunities will attract immigration,
but the birth rate in that country may not increase; it often
does not. Therefore it is very difficult to formulate any hard
and fast theory of population. One thing we do know is
that population is steadily increasing, and for the past hun-
dred years, at least, means of subsistence have more than kept
pace with this increase. While we can expect the population
of the earth steadily to become denser there is as yet under
ordinary circumstances no immediate danger of starvation —
at least not in the next few decades.

INCREASE OF POPULATION 45

Increase in Population of Some of the Leading Mod-
ern Nations. — The following table will show how some of
the modern nations have increased in population.1

% Increase % Increase

Country— 1800-1900 Country— 1800-1900

United States 1,331.6 Sweden 118.6

Belgium 204.3 Italy 88.4

Denmark 163.4 Portugal 85. 1

United Kingdom 155.9 Switzerland 84.1

Norway 154.6 Austria 81.6

Germany 143.2 Spain 75.6

Holland 143.1 France 42.5

From these figures it will be seen at a glance that the
nations that have shown the greatest increase are the ones
which are prosperous or are well located; yet we can derive
no universal law from these data for France has been a very
prosperous nation, she enjoys a splendid form of government,
and the common people are happy. Yet France, even before
the war was hardly holding her own in population.

A population can increase by a surplus of births over deaths
and by immigration, but a high birth does not necessarily
mean an increase in population; in fact some of the countries
which are at the top of the list given above have a birth rate
low in comparison with that of many which are near the
foot, as we may see by the following table:

BIRTH AND DEATH RATES PER 1000 TOTAL POPULATION, 19002

Excess Births
Country Birth Rate Death Rate Over Death

Norway 30.7 15.8 14.3

Germany 35.6 22.1 13.5

Denmark 29.8 16.9 12.9

Hungary 39.3 26.9 12.4

Scotland 29.6 18.5 11.1

England and Wales 28.7 18.2 10.5

Sweden 26.9 16.8 10.1

United Kingdom 28.2 18.4 9.8

Belgium 28.9 19.3 9.6

Italy 32.9 23.7 9.2

Spain 34.4 29.4 5.0

Ireland 22.7 19.6 3.1

France 21.4 21.9 —.5

Switzerland 19.3 —

1A Century of Population in the United States, 1790-1900, by Census Bureau, p. 85.
"Bailey, Modern Social Conditions, pp. 97 and 214.

46 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

So when it comes to the question of natural increase, it is
the final product or excess of births over deaths that must be
considered. Then, too, for each individual country other
factors have to be considered particularly whether there is
emigration or immigration.

In the United States only a few states have kept vital
records; so we have no data to give. Even if there were
figures for the United States comparison between our country
and Europe would not be fair, for we have received immi-
grants, the majority of whom have been in the prime of life
and Europe has sent them to us. On the other hand many
of these immigrants have returned to Europe to die in their
native lands.

If we compare the birth rates of these same countries with
their birth rates of several decades ago we notice an almost
universal decline, especially with the more advanced nations;
in regard to the death rate we find a still greater decline.
Therefore the increase in population is the result, not of
an increasing birth rate, but of this decline in the death rate,
which is brot about by better sanitation, increased medical
knowledge — especially among the masses, prevention of indus-
trial accidents, prevention of disease thru quarantine, vacci-
nation and anti-toxins, and the discovery of cures of diseases.
The establishment of bureaus of medical research ; social insur-
ance systems; visiting nurses; proper building codes; the dis-
semination of health information; shorter hours; more health-
ful working conditions; the cleaning up of streets and alleys;
food inspection — these and a thousand other factors have
helped to lower the death rate; and we can look for still
greater progress in this line. As sanitation and hygiene
increase the death rate goes down.

We note also that the industrial nations of the world are
increasing in population because they furnish work for their
people and hence check emigration as well as tempt immi-
gration. The industrial development of the United States is
largely, if not almost wholly, responsible for the modern immi-
gration to this country. After Germany developed industrially
she kept her people at home; the same is true of Norway and
Sweden.

The recent World War has shaken up all the statistics of
the different countries of Europe, so almost impossible to make
any predictions as to the future.

47

The Increase of Population in the United States. —

In order to discuss this subject properly we must take a glance
at the population statistics as given by the United States
Census, which are as follows for the United States (conti-
nental):

Year

Population

% Inc. i Year

Population

% Inc.

1790

3,929,214

1860

31,443,321

35.6

1800

5,308,483

25.1

1870

38,558,371

26.6

1810

7,239,881

36.4

1880

50,155,783

26.0

1820

9,638,453

33.1

1890

62,947,714

24.9

1830

12,866,020

33.5

1900

75,994,575

20.7

1840

17,069,453

32.7

1910

91,972,266

21.0

1850

23.191.876

35.9

1920

These figures show that there has been a steady decrease in
the percentage of increase in the population in the
United States, that while the increase is still healthy it
is by no means so rapid as formerly. This is not owing to
immigration, because since 1880 we have received the majority
of our immigrants; in fact in our early history when the
increase was the most rapid we were receiving very few immi-
grants. During the decades when we were receiving the most
immigrants we increased in population the least. In regard
to this some authorities go so far as to declare that immigra-
tion has checked instead of increased our population. On the
face of it it seems plausible, but if we examined all the facts
we probably should not find this statement true. Because
accurate records of births and deaths are kept in only a few
of the American states we are not able to obtain statistics
which are worth quoting. In Massachusetts the birth rate
among foreign born has been about three times that of the
native born. But these statistics are misleading, for the for-
eign born do not come here as a rule till they reach the prime
of life or at least the child-bearing age; then, too, many return
to Europe after they have passed that period; so of course
the foreign born have a much higher birth rate. Consequently
the death rate of native born is higher than that of foreign
born for the- same state, altho this difference is slight. But
Massachusetts is not an average state; conditions are peculiar
in that the most vigorous part of the native population have
moved westward, especially the men, thus leaving the less
energetic at home and in addition causing an unequal distri-
bution of the sexes. Then too the immigrant class is cooped

48 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF1 SOCIOLOGY

up to a great extent in the factory towns like Fall River,
New Bedford and Lawrence under very bad conditions,
inviting thereby low standards of living and high birth rates.
On the other hand prices are high and wages low in New
England; so the native with his high ideals is compelled to
postpone marriage and keep down the number of children
if he wishes to uphold his standard of living. Since we have
abnormal conditions in practically all the registration states1
of the United States, we are not able to make accurate use
of any statistics from them, Michigan being practically the
only normal state among them. From the most of the other
states we have a heavy emigration of natives and into them
an immigration of foreign born.

The average size of the family has decreased in the United
States, being 5.6 in 1850, 5.3 in 1860, 5.1 in 1870, 5 in 1880,
4.9 in 1890, 4.7 in 1900, and 4.5 in 1910. Among the native
whites the decline has been still greater, and in some sections
of New England they have even lost, the average number
being in some places even below 4. This decrease has occa-
sioned some people much alarm. The causes for the decrease
in birth rate are many, some of the most prominent being
the following:

1. The Constantly Advancing Standard of Living.—
People are demanding more; things which they formerly
looked upon as luxuries they now consider necessities, such
as bath rooms, telephones, and electric lights. Finer clothing,
a greater variety of food, better houses, and more comforts
are demanded; rather than sacrifice these things, people limit
the number of children. Then, too, greater stress is now put
upon careful rearing children and giving them proper advan-
tages, than upon bringing them into the world. Instead of
being alarming, this cause seems to be elevating and conducive
to a higher civilization.

2. The Constantly Increasing Cost of Living. — The
increase in prices, especially of food stuffs, rent, and clothing,
resulting from the comparative decrease of land for producing
these commodities and the increasing demand for them is
another cause of small families. Wages have also risen, but
it is an economic fact that wages are slower to advance than
prices. As we shall see when consider immigration, wages
have been kept down by the competition of the immigrant

., D. C., Me., Mass., Mich., N. H., N. J., R. I., and Vermont.

INCREASE OE POPULATION 49

with the native laborer. This cause, while regrettable, is
hard to prevent. The World War has recently complicated
this situation still more by effecting an abnormal increase in
prices, as a result of the tremendous demand. In some indus-
tries this increase has been more than offset by corresponding
increases in wages. In other lines of work it has not been
so offset.

3. Selfishness or the Refusal to Have Children. — This
may result from an unwillingness to sacrifice for them, unwill-
ingness to undergo the discomfort and pain of bringing them
into the world, or the unwillingness to substitute for the pleas-
ures enjoyed the unknown comforts of parenthood. This is
especially true of the rich, who are loath to give up partici-
pation in society and to spare the time which parenthood
requires. The following table by Bertillion, giving the number
of births per thousand among the various economic classes
of the four largest European cities1, illustrates the well known
fact that the poor have more children than the rich. Thus
it shows that the better the economic condition the fewer the
children.

BIRTHS PER 1,000 WOMEN 15-50 YEARS OE AGE

Paris Berlin Vienna London

Very poor 108 157 200 147

Poor 95 129 104 140

Comfortable 72 114 155 107

Very Comfortable 65 96 153 107

Rich 53 63 107 87

Very Rich 34 47 71 63

TOTAL 80 102 153 109

In short the very poor have about three times as many
children as the very rich. As the economic prosperity of a
country increases we shall naturally expect to find a decline
in the birth rate. This is a condition much to be deplored
for it seems unfortunate that those who can afford to have
many children will not have them and those who are not
able to support them have the large families.

4. Education, That Is, Higher Education. — With the
increase in culture and the rise in civilization, more time is
spent in preparation for one's life work. If one is fitting
himself for a professional calling, he must spend four years

JQuoted by Bailey, Modern Social Conditions, p. 110.

50 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF1 SOCIOLOGY

in high school, and if he takes his profession seriously, four
years in college, and three or four years in professional school.
If he enters high school at the age of fourteen and goes con-
tinuously (which does not always happen), he is at least
twenty-five upon the completion of this preparation; then he
must spend a year and often several before he is able to
earn enuf or to attain sufficient professional success to war-
rant marriage. So he is close to thirty before he can marry
at all. If he marries an educated woman she is nearly as
old. This is especially true if during his school days he falls
in love with a school mate and she waits till he has completed
his preparation. It is only natural then that their family
should be smaller than the family of the uneducated man who
marries at twenty-one or two a girl of eighteen or nineteen.
Education of women has had a greater effect upon the birth
rate than education of men, for it has made woman less
dependent upon marriage; she has become able to make her
own way; and her education has caused her to be more dis-
criminating in her choice of a husband. While this has tended
to elevate man and has compelled him to live a cleaner and
more wholesome life, it has restricted marriage. In the past
woman was a drudge or an ornament, a kind of social barom-
eter, you might say, reflecting man's economic position. If he
was rich she did not have to work, but if he was poor she
had to do so; she is more and more a partner. However
society is not yet adjusted to this situation; because of these
conditions woman hesitates more about marriage, and, once
married, hesitates to settle back into woman's former position
in the home ; hence she is more loathe to begin raising a family
or to have a large one.

5. Vice. — Unfortunately many who desire children cannot
have them, and it is claimed that at least one-half of these
cases are owing to immorality. Sexual diseases, as we shall
see later when we take up the subject of immorality, make
child-birth either dangerous or impossible. This is one of the
leading reasons why the birth rate in France is no higher
than it is, and also why so many of the rich in all countries
do not have children. While comparatively few women have
disease upon marriage, it is only a question of time until they
are affected if the men they marry are diseased. Since some
of the best authorities state that about three-fourths of the
men in the United States, for illustration, become impure
before marriage (generally with prostitutes who are afflicted

51

with disease), it is easy to see that vice is a very important
cause of small families. Many one child families result from
it, disease preventing further conception. We can expect this
cause to operate less in the future, for as a problem the social
evil is becoming rapidly less important; it is only a question
of time until it will be either stamped out or reduced to a
minimum. In old days when the bearing of children was
impossible, the women were called "barren" and could be
divorced. Now that -we know the cause, we hear less of
"barrenness". While some women cannot have children, far
more could have them if their husbands had lived clean lives.

6. Greater Knowledge among the Masses of Birth Control.
- This is coupled with the preceding causes. Formerly birth
control was frowned upon as unsocial and branded as irre-
ligious, and made illegal by statute. Public opinion is sup-
porting these ideas and laws less and less. Heretofore
churches thundered against birth control, but now they oppose
it less, especially those churches which come into close contact
with the poor. As people become educated they acquire a
more accurate knowledge of the laws of reproduction; as a
result fewer children are born. Whether for the best inter-
ests of our country or not, we can expect this tendency to
increase as our country continues to grow in prosperity and
enlightenment,

On the whole we can look for a constantly declining birth
rate; but whether this ever reaches the point of race suicide
is extremely doubtful.

Decrease in Death Rate. — Along with a decrease in
birth rate we have noticed a steady decline in the death rate
among civilized nations; the greater the advance in civiliza-
tion, the greater the decrease. The steady increase in popu-
lation is the result of the decrease in death rate. This decline
is owing to many causes, the chief of which are probably the
following:

1. Increased Medical Knowledge. — Medical science is con-
stantly finding cures for diseases which formerly were consid-
ered incurable, e.g., tuberculosis, yellow fever, spotted fever
and cholera; it is making other diseases which were ranked
as dangerous less often fatal, and in fact hardly serious at
all; such is smallpox, which formerly considered a scourge,
now is no more to be dreaded than a bad cold or lagrippe.
Preventive means, in the shape of anti-toxins, are now used
against such diseases as typhoid fever and diphtheria. The

52 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

heretofore unknown causes of many diseases which have existed
for a long time, like the hook-worm disease and infantile paral-
ysis, have been discovered. Better methods of. treating the
simpler or so-called "child diseases", such as measles, whoop-
ing cought, croup, etc., have been found and their fatality has
been reduced. Medical science has not only greatly reduced
the death rate but may also be expected to effect still greater
improvement in this respect. Joined with these discoveries
is the greater accessibility of these cures and treatments to
the mass of our population thru better hospital facilities.
With the erection of city hospitals and privately endowed insti-
tutions, practically no one need go without medical treatment
when it is needed, even tho funds are lacking. Increased
knowledge on the part of the public of the curability of
disease and stricter requirements for entrance into the medical
profession have contributed to the decrease in the death rate
from disease. People do not fear hospitals as they once did,
and they trust doctors more than formerly; so with the greater
means at hand they make use in daily life of investigations
and discoveries.

2. Improved Sanitation and Hygiene. — Practical knowl-
edge of hygiene has been spread thru the country by instruc-
tion in our schools, special propagandas, popular magazines,
public libraries, and other means of disseminating information.
Visiting nurses are going around from house to house teaching
the poor, especially the immigrant poor, how to live healthier,
happier lives, prepare better food, and prevent germ infection.
Our cities are enacting and a thing still more important, are
enforcing laws in regard to sewerage and garbage disposal,
street cleaning, food and milk inspection, pure water, handling
of contagious diseases and other matters vital to public health.
Because prevention is more important than cure this type of
effort is even more important than the preceding one; simi-
larly it is becoming more effective and thus can be depended
upon for increasingly greater results in the future.

3. Prevention of Industrial Accidents. — Most of the Euro-
pean countries have adopted systems of accident insurance,
compelling the employers to pay the expenses caused by acci-
dents in their factories. This has compelled the employers
to use the most modern devices for accident prevention. Many
of the American states are doing the same; also many employ-
ers are putting in these improvements voluntarily. In the
United States it has been found that about 35,000 workers

INCREASE OF POPULATION S3

are killed and 500,000 maimed in industrial accidents, many
of which are preventable. Shorter working hours are becom-
ing customary and as a result there are fewer accidents. We
as a nation are waking up to the fact that the loss of life
because of industrial accidents is to a great extent unneces-
sary and are taking steps to prevent it.

4. Decrease in Infant Mortality. — During the first year
the mortality rate is greatest, especially among the poor and
ignorant classes and in those countries where the masses are
uneducated and poverty-stricken. In Russia under normal
times 27 per cent of all the babies died before the end of the
first year, and even in the registration area in the United
States 16.2 per cent die during this period. We are now
beginning to realize the seriousness of this unnecessary loss
of life and are attempting to prevent it by means of disease
prevention, food inspection, and the spread of knowledge of
hygiene.

5. Prevention of War. — Before the World War we had
steadily reduced the loss of life by means of war till we were
in high hopes of some time eliminating entirely this great
means of the loss of life. The war upset all this. If the
present League of Nations succeeds in doing all that its advo-
cates expect of it, we can look for the time to come in the
near future when this great cause of the loss of life will be
reduced to a minimum. The world is sick of war and we
can only hope that this league will succeed in doing all that
its most ardent advocates predict of it.

On the whole, then, we may expect population to keep on
increasing but at a less rapid rate than formerly; we may
expect a constantly decreasing birth rate but a corresponding,
but slightly less, decrease in the death rate. Many estimates
have been made as to the population of the United States at
stated dates in the future, say in the year 2000; they range
from 200,000,000 to 400,000,000. Such predictions are inac-
curate and worthless for conditions are constantly changing
and the rate of increase is ever decreasing. If we continue
to hold out fewer inducements to immigrants, we can expect
immigration to cease after a time. If our prosperity should
fail we might even experience much emigration and a possible
decrease in population. Besides as we take up our natural
resources and fill up the country and at the same time improve
education and raise our standard of living, we may look for
the rate of increase to fall off rapidly. Therefore the future

54 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

is too uncertain to admit of any serious prediction. The most
that we can say is that if our present conditions continue to
exist we are sure that the population will keep on steadily
increasing. Likewise when the world recovers from the tem-
porary setback caused by the World War, the world will con-
tinue to house and feed an ever growing, expanding family.

READING REFERENCES

ELLWOOD, Sociology and Modern Social Problems, Chap IX, "Growth
of Population."

BAILEY, Modern Social Conditions. Chaps. Ill, V, and VI.

PARMELEE, Poverty and Social Progress. Chap. XII, "Growth of Pop-
ulation and Increase of Wealth."

MALTHUS, Essay on Population. Any good edition.

TAUSSIG, Principles of Economics, Vol. II, Chaps. 52 and S3, "Popu-
lation."

WRIGHT, Outlines of Practical Sociology, Chaps. II and III.

WOLFE, Readings in Social Problems, Book I.

Census Reports, etc.

CHAPTER IV
HUMAN MIGRATION

In our last chapter we remarked that man began his career
upon the earth somewhere in or near what is now Asia Minor
and from that region spread over the entire earth. The pur-
pose of this chapter is to show why he migrated, how he did
it, and what was the effect upon his development.

Man was forced to migrate because of lack of food supply.
The increase in numbers made living more difficult and as
a result some of the group had to leave their original home
to seek new supplies of food. This caused the formation of
bands which would start out upon their wanderings in search
of new abodes. In all probability these bands consisted of
those belonging to one family or those closely connected by
ties of kinship or friendship. Whether they were the weaker
groups which were driven out or were bands composed of
energetic individuals who were discontented with their hard
lot and desirious of more profitable fields, we do not know;
in all probability both classes of people were represented. At
any rate man formed into bands, so as to afford greater pro-
tection and to satisfy his innate craving for companionship,
and started out upon journies of conquest and exploration.

These bands naturally followed the paths of least resistence,
going up or down river valleys, along the coast, around moun-
tain ranges, or thru passes. When they came to places where
the food supply was abundant they would either settle down
permanently or remain till routed out by some stronger, band
or tempted to seek still more inviting sources of food supply.
If stronger bands forced them out they fimply continued their
wanderings, unless they preferred to fight rather than to run;
often, in that event, the weaker band was exterminated or
forced into slavery by the stronger.

We have noticed that the richer river valleys like the Nile
valley and the valley of the Tigris-Euphrates were the first to
be settled and consequently the first to produce people of high
order. Man has also moved along the paths of the best sources

55

56 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

of food supply, whether living was gained by direct appropria-
tion of the gifts of nature, by fishing, by hunting, or later by
the domestication of flocks and herds, with the aid of agri-
culture. In this way he spread out from Asia Minor in all
directions, going eastward into what is now India, and then
either around the Himalayas or thru the passes into the fertile
territory of China, where he was stopped by the Pacific Ocean.
Because in all probability Australia and the East Indies were
at that time connected with Asia by strips of land or were
separated only by narrow bodies of water, man was able to
people the East Indias, Australia, New Zealand and most of the
island archepelagos of the Southern Pacific. Further north
man was forced or lured to cross the Bering Sea, either on
the ice or by means of rafts, perhaps going from one to another
of the Aleutrian islands; thus he came to America. From
Alaska it was an easy matter to spread over the two Americas.
Going westward from the cradle of the human race, man
migrated to Africa by way of the isthmus of Suez into the
Nile valley and thence to the various parts of Africa, meeting
with few land barriers, with the exception of the Sahara desert.
Going northward he passed into Europe, either following the
shores of the Mediterranean or going down the valley of the
Danube, which has served as a highway for migrations into
Europe. From southern Europe man wandered as far north
as the climate would permit. Here he was driven backward
at least once and possibly several times by changes in the
climate which caused the glaciers to move southward, only
to return again with successive resumptions of former climatic
conditions. Europe was peopled also by migrations from
Asia which moved in a more northerly track, coming by way
of Siberia. Russia and the Balkans were thus settled by the
Slavic race. From Europe migration crossed the Atlantic; first
the Norse came by way of Iceland, later the Spanish by way
of the Azores, and still later various European peoples directly
across the Atlantic. This migration was preceded, however,
by the one thru Alaska by a long period of time, probably
many centuries. In this way man spread over the entire
world. But he was not contented even then; he kept on
wandering.

Motives for Migration. — - The motive for early migration
was necessity — the shortage of provisions or the fear of a
stronger force. Afterwards other motives came in, particu-
larly religion, political oppression, the desire to evade the

HUMAN MIGRATION 57

penalties of law, and economic reasons. Religious persecution
was one of the leading motives for the settling up of America
but it was effective as a motive long before that. It seems
to be human nature for those holding one belief to try to
compell others to accept the same belief and to drive out or
exterminate those who differ. Many people have migrated
therefore, for the sake of religious freedom. Rule, at first,
was by means of the strong arm; those who dared to oppose
were killed or driven out; thus there have always been those
who were compelled to migrate for this reason. Banishment,
either outside of the political boundaries, or to some definite
place, such as a penal colony, has often been used as a means
of punishment. Then wanderlust, the desire to keep moving,
has always been a strong motive. Religious pilgrimages and
the sending out of missionaries have added to migration.
Slavery has dispersed peoples, the weaker being captured, sold
as slaves, and scattered thruout the world; negro slavery fur-
nishes perhaps the best example. Greece and Rome followed
this as a regular custom, Rome selling her prisoners of war.
Whenever a race was defeated and put to flight, it frequently
scattered, sought safety as individuals, and hence was unable
to unite later.

Probably the greatest motive for migration today is the
economic one, the seeking for opportunities to obtain a greater
return for one's labor. This is fhe motive prompting the bulk
of our recent immigrants to come to America; it is behind the
majority of human wanderings today. The lure of gold and
the prospect of riches cause man to go to the most inaccessible
regions; to endure the tortures of extreme cold or heat; to
risk the dangers of disease and of wild beasts ; to endure thirst ;
frost-bite, drenching rains, and all manner of personal dis-
comforts; to leave friends and relatives and put up with lone-
liness and privation. Commerce has been fostered by prac-
tically all nations; colonies were sent out by Phoenecia, Greece,
and Carthage for this purpose, and later by France, England,
Holland, and Germany. In fact the trader has nearly always
preceded the soldier and settler, these being prompted to follow
by tlje reports brot back by the traveler who wandered in
search of trade.

Fugitive peoples have been driven into the inaccessible
regions of the world, those places which offered a chance to
escape pursuit or detection. Ripley calls the Caucasus the
"grave of peoples, languages, customs, and physical types."

58 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

In these inaccessible places these peoples degenerate because
of the lack of contact with others; then too they were origi-
nally often inefficient, else they would not have become fugi-
tive peoples. Isolation can only add to this inefficiency.

With primitive man migration was comparatively easy; he
did not have to worry about selling his land or even moving
his household furniture, because he did not have any. All
that he had to do was to pick up and move to another place.
So it was easy and natural to acquire the habit of wandering.
He was not able to move as rapidly as modern man, for he
had not only no express trains and steamships, but no roads,
bridges, and at first no draft animals. Yet, in spite of the
improvement in the means of travel, civilized man has greater
trouble to move because of his numerous possessions; more-
over he has less incentive for migration.

Primitive movements were not rapid; they were slow,
leisurely driftings in which whole tribes or nations took part.
At first these bands were held together by family ties, but as
they grew often vast hordes were collected; such were the
Slavic invasions of Europe. The westward migration of the
Vandals is also a good illustration; they first came into con-
tact with Rome when they struck one of the Roman provinces
on the Danube. Here they settled for some time, then they
moved on westward, then southward into Spain, and finally
across the Straits of Gibraltar into northern Africa, taking
about two hundred years for this whole movement. Later
migrations generally took the form of colonization fostered
by the parent country. Now migration is an individual
matter, altho many individuals go together, frequently with
the encouragement of their governments.

Westward Movement of Civilization. — While civiliza-
tion for a while moved eastward, passing from Asia Minor
to India and China, and, while first came to America by way
of the Pacific, we find that on the whole civilization has had
a westward expansion, passing from Babylon, Assyria, and
Persia to Greece; from Greece to Rome and from Rome to
France, Spain and England; then from these countries to
America; and now bidding fair to pass back into Asia — to
Japan and China. Not only civilization but also world power
seems to follow this path. Civilization in moving westward
has done so along the north temperate zone; because of this
the north temperate zone is known as "the track of civiliza-
tion". In our next chapter, on immigration as an American

HUMAN MIGRATION 59

problem, we shall notice that it has been and is simply a
part of this westward movement of races seeking opportunities
for improvements, particularly religious and political freedom,
and economic betterment.

During the past few years Japan has made wonderful strides
in culture and civilization; by developing a strong army and
navy and by assuming a strong aggressive attitude she now
commands a place of prominence in the family of nations.
Her power as a fighting nation was not recognized until she
so quickly and skilfully defeated the great Russian Empire
in the Russo-Japanese War. Since that time she has com-
manded the respect of other nations, alliances with her being
eagerly sought.

Japan has been- crowded for territory to accommodate her
ever increasing population and during the past few years has
looked with envious eyes upon the sleeping giant at her west
but before the recent war she was not able to make much
use of her neighbor. But while the war was taking all the
time and attention of the other nations that had an interest
in China, Japan has been able to push her interests. Judging
from present indications it will only be a question of time
till she builds up a vast power in the East, either in co-opera-
tion with or at the expense of China.

China, however, is waking up; she is throwing off the
shackles of inertia and the dead weight of her past, and is
adopting modern methods of education, industry, and govern-
ment. She has now become a republic and is welcoming occi-
dental ideas, inventions, and civilization. Whether she will be
able to build up a powerful military and naval power, like
that of her neighbor Japan, is a question. But there is no
doubt that the East is soon to play an important, if not a
dominating, role in the history of the world. Japan by means
of a "Monroe Doctrine" of her own is attempting to reap all
the benefit from the awakening, both commercially and polit-
ically; she may as a result assume the leadership in Eastern
politics. But, whatever the outcome of this controversy, the
Yellow race must be reckoned with in the future in the shap-
ing of world policies.

Then in addition to this, with her unlimited resources and
endless opportunities, Russia, especially Siberia, is the land
with a future which defies prediction. She has now thrown
off the handicap of a reactionary government — apparently at
present for a still more handicapping reign of Bolshevism —

60 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

and when she is able to establish a strong democratic govern-
ment out of the present chaos, she is bound to prosper and to
progress. The common people, instead of being held down
in ignorance, will be encouraged and a higher civilization will
result. It will take centuries to achieve a position of intellec-
tual leadership, but political leadership is possible long
before that.

While the recent World War, horrible and disastrous as
it was, did not sound the death-knell of European civilization,
as seemed possible not long ago, it has set Europe back decades
in human progress and it will probably take Europe a century
or more to fully recover from all its effects. But the present
indication is that out of the ruins there may emerge a structure
grander than the one destroyed.

We in America cannot bear to think that our nation, shar-
ing the fate of Greece and Rome, may in time fall into
oblivion. Some predict that we are fast rushing towards
destruction. At present we are mounting high on the struc-
ture of development and progress. But we may fall by reason
of too great prosperity, especially with the wealth and world
power which the World War has brot to us. We may even
in the course of a few centuries pass on the leadership to
Asia — not as a permanent possession, but perhaps a posses-
sion to be kept for a time, and then to be returned by Asia
to Europe. In this way civilization may pass around the
world and a second time come to America. This is not given
as a prophesy, but merely as a suggestion of a possible con-
tinuation of the westward movement of civilization, which
has been the condition in the past. To the student of world
politics this seems not only a possibility but a probability.
But the future has too much in store and is too uncertain
to allow any sort of definite prediction.

However as different nations and countries rise and progress
in civilization, new opportunities are opened; thither man
migrates. These opportunities may.be religious, political,
economic, physical, or esthetic, but they draw people from
countries which offer less chance of development. Thus man
is constantly migrating and society is ceaselessly in motion.
In our next chapter we shall see how this migration has
affected our own country.

CHAPTER V
IMMIGRATION

American Immigration a Part of the Movement of
Races. — The immigration problem as presented to the people
of the United States is merely a specific illustration of the
movement of races previously discussed. It is perhaps brot
more forcibly to our attention than other illustrations because
of the rapidity of its development. We are all immigrants.
It is merely a question of time — a matter of the date of
arrival. Whether our ancestors came in 1700, helped in the
development of the colonies, fought the Indians, and joined
in the struggle for independence; whether they came in the
rush from Ireland in the 40's, bringing their entire possessions
wrapped up in a bandana handkerchief, or whether we our-
selves landed at Ellis Island — it is only a matter of a few
generations. The immigration problem in America has had,
however, one aspect which differs considerably from the gen-
eral run of migration. Those of ancient times usually con-
sisted in the migration of a whole tribe or of a considerable
portion of it to one particular region or in one certain direc-
tion. America, in a singular manner, seems to have been a
magnet which has drawn human beings from all directions,
from all lands; from the rugged hills of Norway, the sunny-
slopes of Italy, the steppes of Russia, the banks of the Danube,
and the settled districts of England and Germany. It has
attracted the Oriental as well as the Occidental; but in the
main this migration to America has been in harmony with
other migrations in being a westward movement. America
has been the melting pot; into it the different cultures and
civilizations of the earth have been indescriminately thrown;
they have been stirred up and fomented by the different inter-
ests at work in our country, and it is only a question of time
till the mass cools off and we can see what the final product
is. Perhaps it is also only a question of time until we in
turn pour out our surplus population to less densily inhabited
regions. If so, then the problem will be even more serious,

61

62 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

for it is only the hardiest, the sturdiest, and the most daring
that migrate. We may then object to emigration much more
strenuously than we do now to immigration.

Causes of Immigration. — The motives of migration to
the United States have been much the same as the causes
already discussed of migration to other parts of the world.
The three leading motives have been religious, political, and
economic. Coupled with these have been minor motives, such
as the desire for adventure and for escape from military service
or from punishment of crime. The early settlers of New
England came largely to escape religious persecution and to
be free to worship God according to the dictates of their own-
consciences. The same was true of the settlers of Pennsyl-
vania and Maryland. Virginia, New York, and Delaware were
colonized by England, Holland, and Sweden respectively in
an attempt by each to build up political supremacy. Many,
immigrants have come to this country to escape political as
well as religious persecution. This was especially true of
the early German immigrant. The Carolinas and Georgia
were settled mainly by convicts sent out from England for a
double purpose — to get rid of the criminal class at home and
to form a buffer state between Virginia and Spanish Florida.
European countries made a practice for a long time, even after
the Revolution, of sending their criminals here. To stop this
was one of the problems confronting our nation in the early
years of its history. But the chie.f cause of immigration in
recent years has been economic — the desire for greater wealth,
the ability to earn a larger wage, and the opportunity to
enjoy more returns from their labor. This movement has been
stimulated by advertising on the part of steamship companies,
which profited from the immigration. Our recent immigrants
have come from countries that are less prosperous than our
own, countries where they were accustomed to low wages,
high taxes, and a hard life in general. They heard of the
high wages to be obtained in America and were attracted by
them. It was the dollar which drew them. This is particu-
larly true of the Italian, Greek, and Slavic races. The
founders of the United States as a nation were primarily
English, Scotch, and Welsh, with here and there a sprinkling
of other nationalities, mostly the remnants of descendants of
the colonies founded by other nations which tried to settle
North America. The • first immigrants were mostly of the
same blood as the people who had helped to establish the

IMMIGRATION 63

nation and were naturally welcomed to our shores in order
to swell our scanty population, and thus make our country
the more secure against foreign invasion and to aid in winning
from the redman and the wild beasts the great unknown region
west of the Alleghanies. But the number of these newcomers
was small even as late as 1840; in fact it did not pass the
100,000 mark till 1842. In that year immigration took a
jump, owing to the potato famine in Ireland and an unsuc-
cessful insurrection in Germany. Since that time immigration
to our shores has taken place in waves. Because these differ-
ent waves have been largely made up of separate nationalties,
one nation at a time furnishing the bulk of the immigrants,
we shall take up by nationalities the matter of immigration.

Irish. — The Irish were the first to cause the dislike and
resentment of those who had preceded them as immigrants.
This feeling was the result of the following conditions: They
were driven out of Ireland because of the failure of the potato
crops, upon which Ireland had depended for a long time.
Therefore they brot little wealth; in fact the majority of them
brot their entire belongings wrapped up in bandana handker-
chiefs. The clothes that they wore were exceedingly rough;
their manners were uncouth. They spoke a dialect which
made conversation with them almost impossible. Ireland had
been under a system of burdensome and obnoxious taxation,
by which the Irish farmer was taxed for every visible form
of wealth. If he had stock he was taxed for it; hence came
the temptation to keep the pig in the parlor, where the acces-
sor would not be likely to find it. If he improved his prop-
erty or wore decent clothes he was assumed to be prosperous
and was taxed accordingly. Hence he got into the habit of
concealing his wealth and looking as downtrodden and woe-
begone as possible. This habit of course was brot over by the
Irish immigrant. About this time the one hundred year leases
given to the Scotch, when they settled the northern part of
Ireland, began to run out. Altho these settlers had looked
upon these leases as perpetual they were evicted from their
homes; America was their only refuge. It offered them a new
home, where they could carve out their own future. It was
a place where land was either free or very cheap and where
labor was in demand; so they migrated in large numbers from
Ireland to America, where they have been known as
Scotch-Irish.

These rough-looking, uncouth Irish came mostly to Massa-

64 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

chusetts. This made the contrast all the more marked for
Boston and Cambridge, where the largest number of these
Irish immigrants settled, prided themselves upon their culture
and education. At first the Irishman, being short of funds,
was glad to get any kind of work and was not in a position
to haggle over the wage; he took any thing he could get and
at a very low wage; but it was not long before he began to
supplant the native New Englander in the mills and factories
of New England. The manufacturers were quick to see that
this uncouth Irishman had an unusually quick mind and readily
adapted himself to new conditions, and so could easily take
the place of the more expensive native. He was eager to work
and quick to learn; so it was only a matter of a few years
till he was very much in the majority in the factories. But
he became acquainted with our conditions and demanded as
high wages as the native and quickly began to adopt our cus-
toms. As a result the Irish immigrants have been assimilated
with remarkable rapidity. Nor were they content merely to
be quickly assimilated; they went on till they began to con-
trol. They obtained positions as bosses and foremen, and
for these positions they showed remarkable ability. Then they
drifted into politics, and today they are our political leaders.
The Irish element has controlled Boston for years; it would
be almost impossible now to elect a mayor who is not Irish
by descent. In the same way the Irish have controlled Tam-
many in New York; in fact in all our large cities where there
are a number of Irish, they have become a strong political
factor; at times they have formed a dangerous element. Yet
they have also exerted a good influence in politics ; the majority
of our presidents and statesmen in recent years have had Irish
blood in their veins.

Since 1820 Ireland has poured one-half of her population
into the United States, 4,000,000 coming as against 3,300,000
coming from Great Britain. The reason for this coming, as
we have seen, has been largely, if not almost wholly, economic ;
yet they came to stay and few have returned. They looked
upon America, when they came, as their future home. If
the men came alone they quickly sent for their families or
sweethearts to join them. In recent years the Irish have
ceased to come, for the motives have vanished. Ireland is
becoming prosperous with a change in the English policy of
control. The future of Ireland is much more optimistic than
that of England, for in the future England will depend to

IMMIGRATION 65

a great extent upon Ireland for her food supply. So we cannot
expect to receive many more Irish; in fact Irish immigration
is a thing of the past. While the Irishman brot with him
many undesirable traits, such as a fondness for whiskey and
a weakness for committing petty crimes, he brot with him
geniality, the ability to mingle, quickness of perception, and
organizing ability; he has been a sturdy element in our popu-
lation and has contributed a large share to the prosperity of
this country. It is possibly our loss that Irish immigration
has ceased.

German. — The motives that prompted the German to
leave his home and to seek a new one were different from
those which spurred on the Irish. The German sought liberty,
a haven from religious and political persecution. Germany had
been torn by many destructive wars, especially the Thirty
Years War. It not only had been invaded by France under
Napoleon, but had been laid waste by internal struggles. Ger-
many was then made up of a number of independent or semi-
independent principalities. These were jealous of each other
and were constantly quarreling. Each levied its own set of
duties, which brot about confusion and led to endless disputes.
In addition there was a struggle between Catholic and Prot-
estants. Every war was followed by relentless persecution
and oppressive taxation. All these things, coupled with the
oppression of the petty tyrants made life almost unbearable.
So it is no wonder that when good reports would come of the
freedom and prosperity in America thousands sought to escape
the oppression at home by emigrating. Germany had been terri-
bly overrun by invading armies, and many regions, especially
the Palatine, were almost turned into deserts. Even if there
had been no oppression and cruelty at home, it would have
been bad enough from an economic standpoint to get started
again.

The emigration became so great that the government became
alarmed and took measures to stop it. Laws were passed,
making emigration more difficult, but such measures were in
vain. The Germans left for America, even if they were com-
pelled to leave empty handed. Some even sold their services
for periods of from three to seven years to pay for their pas-
sage. This rush led to many abuses. Baggage would often
be left behind on the wharves in Bremen or Hamburg; ships
were overcrowded, causing much suffering as well as sickness
and disease. In fact many died on their way to America.
(B)

66 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF1 SOCIOLOGY

The Germans fared no worse than others who came about
this time but they happened to be caught in the rush. Their
difficulties did not end upon arrival, for they were immediately
set upon by sharpers and swindlers; being ignorant of our
customs and language they were at the mercy of any who
wished to impose upon them. Very often the railroads would
leave their baggage in New York or at the point of arrival.
The abuses became so bad that the United States government
took steps to eliminate the greatest evils. Sale of services to
pay passage was abolished in 1820; other abuses were later
dealt with, such as overcrowding and poor accommodations.
This immigration even under such conditions was not wholly
bad, for it aided in the settling up of our frontier in a much
more rapid manner than otherwise would have been possible.
This was especially true of the German settlement of western
Pennsylvania, which formed that element of our population
known as "Pennsylvania Dutch". German immigration kept
up in a steady stream, with the exception of the period of the
Civil War, until the panic of 1873. After that it was largely
diverted to other countries, especially South America, largely
thru strenuous efforts of the German government, in order
to build up commerce and trade with the mother country,
also because Germany feared that she would lose control of
her emigrants if they came to the United States. So in recent
years we have received few Germans.

While the Irish drifted into our cities, the Germans went
primarily to the country. They did not stop to overpopulate
the farms of the eastern states but pushed to the frontier,
going at first to western Pennsylvania and, later to Wisconsin,
Minnesota, and other western states, and especially to Wis-
consin, which was being opened up after the Black Hawk
War of 1833. Of the 2,069,042 persons in Wisconsin in
1900, 709,969 were of German blood. Wisconsin was espe-
cially attractive because it offered cheap land ($1.25 an acre)
which was especially adapted to farming. The climate was
good; taxes were low, for there was no heavy debt. Only
one year of residence was required for voting. Then, too,
Wisconsin wanted settlers and encouraged immigration, espe-
cially of Germans; to get them it advertised for immigrants
and maintained an agency for a time in New York to help
to direct them to Wisconsin. Minnesota offered equal or
nearly equal opportunities and received a large share of the
German immigration.

IMMIGRATION 67

The Germans were not so easily assimilated as the Irish,
being more stubborn in the giving up of their former habits
and customs, especially their language. This was particularly
true if they settled in communities — a method characteristic
of the Germans. They liked their old customs and were
loathe to give them up. For this reason they made substan-
tial citizens when once assimilated, for when they did adopt
our customs they selected our best ones. They brot in addi-
tional problems to our civilization, however, the most impor-
tant of which was perhaps beer drinking. They built up
breweries and were largely responsible for the great increase
in the consumption of beer in the United States. Econom-
ically the Germans were very thrifty and prosperous. They
were industrious and from an economic standpoint probably
the most successful of all our immigrants. The low percent-
age of illiteracy among them upon arrival and their strong
physique also helped make them a substantial element in
our population. In the Civil War they enlisted in large num-
bers in the Union Army, altho they had been here but a short
period of time. While the German in the past formed a sturdy
element in our population, German immigration, at least in
large numbers, is undoubtedly a thing of the past. While
at first many may try to come our government will probably
not permit their entering for some time. Then after that
Germany will settle down and either furnish inducement to
remain at home or take steps to prevent their 1oaving.

As soon as the United States began to play <ni important
role in the World War by furnishing' the Entente Allies with
ammunition and supplies, this country became a special object
of the German spy system. The large German element in our
population furnished a splendid field not only for concealing
spies sent over by Germany, but also for recruiting more spies
and sympathizers. While unfortunately far too many of our
citizens and residents of German birth or parentage supported
this movement, probably the great majority of the Teutonic
element in our population was perfectly loyal to this country.
But enuf did support this movement, thus proving traitors
to the country that gave them shelter and economic oppor-
tunity, that undoubtedly for a number of years to come we
shall consider the German element in our population extremely
undesirable — an attitude exactly opposite to the one held by
us prior to the war. But we were not then aware of the
German plan of world power thru conquest, with all its repug-

68 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

nant features of crushing weaker nations, violating treaties,
and casting aside all the laws of humanity. So if an ostra-
cism of the German should remain in this country for a long
period after the war, it will be only one of the natural results
of the revolting program of the Germanic imperial policy.

French. — We have received very few immigrants from
France, especially in recent years. Early in our history some
came because of religious persecution ; but since the time when
the United States became a refuge for the oppressed, France
has improved religiously and politically. , The era of Napoleon
and the French revolution gave France liberty and the French-
man has had no special reasons for leaving his country. France
has been economically prosperous for many years. Those
French that we have received have come to us by way of
Canada, and will be discussed later. Those that have come
directly from France have been generally highly skilled
workers as professional waiters, and members of the profes-
sional class, especially instructors and singers. Whether now
that the World War is over we shall receive a larger French
immigration will depend upon how successfully France recovers
from the effects of the war, whether she will be able to rebuild
her ruined industries and regain her foreign trade and whether
the burden of taxation can be borne successfully. In all prob-
ability, however, we will receive few immigrants from France
in the future for she has no excess of population and will in
all probability offer work for all her population at home for
a long time to come.

Scandinavian. — Under this head are included those immi-
grants from Sweden and Norway, and also Denmark, for the
Danes belong to the same racial stock. This migration began
about 1820, and from 1821 till 1903 the total immigration
from these countries amounted to 1,609,922. In 1882 it
amounted to 105,326, or 13.3 per cent but in 1907 it had
dropped to 40,965 or 3.9 per cent, and since then has con-
tinued to diminish. In 1903 the number was exceeded by
only three countries, Germany, Ireland and England, but since
then it has been passed by Austria-Hungary, Italy, and
Russia. Formerly the Scandinavian immigration formed an
important addition to our population, but now it has become
a minor element in the immigration stream. Among the Scan-
dinavians were many sailors, carpenters, painters, and shoe-
makers, but the majority were servants and laborers. They
went to Minnesota, New York, Wisconsin, Noxth and South

IMMIGRATION 69

Dakota, Illinois, and Michigan, where they helped to settle
up new parts of the country, especially Minnesota and the
Dakotas. About half of the recent arrivals have been females,
who have come to join relatives or friends or to enter domestic
service. Scandinavians have brot with them on an average
twenty-five dollars in money; the percentage of illiteracy is
very small, being only .7 per cent, or practically nothing.
Altho sullen and morose in disposition, they are steady and
hard working. Because of their mentality and education they
learn the English language easily and are quickly assimiliated.
They have taken an active interest in politics, generally on
the side of good government. North Dakota was one of the
first prohibition states and Wisconsin has very advanced indus-
trial legislation. Not only have they sent their children to
school, but they have fostered higher education. The growth
of the University of Minnesota is an evidence of this. With
the exception of petty misdemeanors the Scandinavians are
free from crime and pauperism. On the whole the Swedes
are ranked as superior to the Norwegians. Very few Danes
come to this country now, owing to the increase in the past
few years of the economic prosperity of Denmark thru the
introduction of co-operative methods of agriculture and espe-
cially of marketing produce. Sweden is now passing from
an agricultural to an industrial nation, hence there is a scarcity
of labor and wages are high. Her merchant marine has
increased wonderfully because of her strategic natural loca-
tion. These factors have tended to keep the Swedes at home
the last few years. Then, too, the government disfavors emi-
gration and endeavors to retard it. Norway is following
Sweden somewhat in this direction. Moreover we do not
offer such inducements to the Scandinavian as we formerly
did; our cheap land is all gone, and there is competition with
the Italian and the Slav, who have lower standards of living
and are willing to underbid him. The Scandinavian has been
a great help to this country. Coming from a country where
life was one continuous struggle with nature, he was inured
to hard work and had developed a strength of character, that
was bound to bring him to the front. We can never expect,
at least for some time to come, to receive many more of this
class for since the war all three of these countries will for years
be more prosperous than ever; they are not burdened with
war debt and they do not have their industries crippled —
except for the merchant marine tonnage which was sunk during

70 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

the war — or their population killed off, but are in a position
to profit by the war thru the trade and commerce which is
coming to them, to say nothing of the wealth that came to
them during the war by selling supplies to the warring nations.
So there will be no motive for migration.

Change in Immigration From Northern and We§tern
to Southern and Eastern Europe. — The greatest change
— and one which is to be regretted — has been in the nation-
ality of our immigrants. We receive very few now from
Ireland, England, Germany, and the Scandinavian countries,
instead our immigrants come from Italy, Austria-Hungary,
Russia, Greece, Turkey, and the Balkan states. The Italian
and the Slav now predominate. The danger arises from dif-
ferences in the customs, habits, education and standards of
living. Because of its effect upon our social life, it is this
change which has caused our recent alarm over immigration,
and which has made the immigration problem a serious one.
The inhabitant of northern Europe was accustomed to a civil-
ization and standard of living which was not materially
different from our own. He was educated — at least the per-
centage of illiteracy was very low; the inhabitant of Italy
and Austria-Hungary, as a result of generations of oppression
and economic distress, is uneducated, and accustomed to dif-
ferent ideas of life. This change in the source of immigra-
tion to the United States is shown by the examination of the
statistics for the years 1882 and 1907, both years of maxi-
mum immigration.1

1882 Percentage

Country — Immigrants. of Immigrants

Great Britain and Ireland 179,423 23.8%

Germany 250,630 31.7

Scandinavia 105,326 13.3

Netherlands, France and Switzerland.- 27,795

Total northern and western Europe, 71.3%

Italy 32,159 4.1

Austria-Hungary 29,150 3.7

Russia, Balkans, etc 22,010

Total, southern and eastern Europe. 10.5

All other countries 142,499 18.2

Total 788,992 100. %

^llwood. Sociology and Modern Social Problems, 1913 ed., pp. 203-4.

IMMIGRATION 71

1907 Percentage

Country — Immigrants. of Immigrants.

Great Britain and Ireland 113,567 8.8%

Scandinavia 49,965 3.9

Germany 37,807 2.9

Netherlands, France and Switzerland 26,512 2.1

Total, northern and western Europe. 17.7%

Austria-Hungary 338,452 26.3

Italy 285,731 22.2

Russia 258,943 20.1

Greece, Serbia, Roumania, etc 88,482 6.9

Total, southern and eastern Europe. 75.5

All other countries 85,890 6.8

Total 1,285,349 100. %

If we examine the immigration statistics for the year ending

June 30, 1914 — just before the World War began — we find
that the figures correspond to those of 1907.

IMMIGRATION 1914

Country — Number Immigrants Per Ct. of Total

Great Britain and Ireland 73,417 6. %

Scandinavia 29,391 2.4

Germany 35,734 2.9

Netherlands, France, Switzerland, etc. 25,591 2.

Total northern and western Europe. 13.3%

Austria-Hungary 278,152 22.8

Italy 283,738 23.3

Russia 255,660 20.9

Greece, Serbia, Roumania, etc 57,252 4.7

Total, southern and western Europe 71.7%

Asia 34,273 . 2.8

All other countries 145,272 11.9

Total 1,218,480 100. %

We have already considered the countries from which we
formerly received the bulk of our immigrants and have seen
that we must not expect a return of that class because we
no longer hold out inducements sufficient to tempt them to
come. Now let us find out why we attracted the peoples of
Italy, Austria-Hungary, Russia and similar countries. In order
to do this we must study the economic and social conditions
in those countries. Such a study will show why their emi-
grants have not made the most desirable additions to our
country, or at least why they have not been wanted.

Italian. — First we must distinguish between the northern
and southern Italian. Northern Italy is mostly agricultural,

72 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES Of SOCIOLOGY

altho the soil is not rich, except in the river valleys ; the people
have a hard struggle to make a living but this very struggle
has given them a hardiness and strength of character that
makes them desirable citizens when they come to the United
States. It is much the same with them as with the Nor-
wegian and Swede, altho the racial stock is of course different.
Southern Italy is, however, not suited for agriculture. Because
the forests have been nearly all cut off there is little rainfall.
The hills are steep and the streams short and rapid; so the
soil has been washed away by floods and land-slides. The
country is also very unhealthful, malaria being especially prev-
alent, and because of this the people live on the hill-tops
and so often have to go long distances to their work. All
these things put together make farming unprofitable, and the
emigrants from this district less valuable as citizens than their
northern neighbors.

The land system of Italy is a great handicap to the economic
prosperity of the country. Most of the land is held by large
estates; a considerable amount is held by the church. The
government has attempted, to some extent, to effect a more
equal distribution by selling land in small tracts, but being
pressed for money it has sold on hard terms, giving especially
large discounts for cash; but as the poor have no cash they
cannot benefit by the discount; so it does them little good.
The laws of inheritance are such as to compel, upon the death
of the owner, the breaking up of his estate into small parts.
These are often too small to be worked profitably; conse-
quently before long they are absorbed by the large estates.
This has brot about a steady decrease in the number of land
owners. The possessors of these large estates turn them over
to agents, who rent them out in small lots at the highest possi-
ble rent. This compels the renter to work the land for all
that he can get out of it; as a result the soil is run down
and the farms are ruined. Being ignorant of methods of fer-
tilization and tillage, and modern processes, the farmer uses
the same old wooden plows and clumsy hoes that have been
in use for centuries; he still threshes out his grain by hand.
So it is impossible to produce much per capita. And because
the productivity of labor is low, wages must be correspondingly
low; in fact, before the war a farm hand or laborer obtained
about thirty cents a day, or from fifty to eighty dollars a
year. He is compelled to live in straw huts along with his
cattle; his children go to work at an early age, having little

IMMIGRATION 73

or no chance for an education. In southern Italy and Sicily,
boys are put to work in the sulphur mines; they are even
often sold for from ten to twenty dollars each. The parent
hopes to redeem them but seldom is able to do so, and they
are thus compelled to work until they come of age. In these
mines they bring the sulphur up to the surface upon their
backs and generally go stark naked. Children ordinarily are
expected to earn their own way as soon as they reach the
ages of thirteen or fourteen, and sometimes even before that.
The laborer is in such a poor position for bargaining that he
gets leases -only on ruinous terms. It is much the same as
with the American Negro, only much worse. Also when he
goes to work for wages he is frequently compelled to leave
home and travel to find work. This breaks up the home life
and is one cause of the terrible moral conditions that exist
in Italy today. Because so many men leave the country there
is a preponderance of females; woman becomes cheap, family
ties are lax, and immorality flourishes.

As a result of ignorance, bad environment, and the necessity
of going to work so early in life, marriages are contracted at
a very early age; for the same reason the birth rate is high
and families are large. The death rate is likewise high. The
population is denser than that of Germany, France, India, or
China, and is only exceeded by that of Great Britain, Belgium,
Japan, and in America, Rhode Island and Massachusetts.

Before the war the Italian peasant spent 85 per cent of
his income for food as against 62 per cent for the German
worker and 41 per cent for the American workman. Then
in addition the army and navy expenditures of the Italian
government took five per cent of the income of the people,
which was higher than that of Germany or France. These
expenditures for the United States took up only two per cent.
Five years of service in the army or navy were required of
every able-bodied peasant.

It is no wonder, then, that when the Italian heard of better
wages in America he wanted to come. The motives prompt-
ing him were purely economic. He did not as a rule look
upon America as a permanent home but merely as a place
where he could earn some money. He not only has come
to America, but he has gone to other countries as well — in
fact, wherever there has been a demand for labor. Recently
South America has attracted him. The Italian has laid rail-
roads in the United States, South America, Australia, and even

74 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

in Siberia. He has dug canals, subways, and ditches; laid
sewers; built streets. In fact, he has done all kinds of
unskilled labor.

While undoubtedly emigration has been a relief to Italy
in that it has taken away her surplus population and sent
back millions of dollars each year, it has not been the best
method of solving her problem. While emigrants have sent
back from $30,000,000 to $80,000,000 each year, Italy has
not been repaid for her loss in citizenship. Over 12,000,000
people have left Italy, one-third coming to the United States;
one-third has gone to South America and the rest to other
countries. But these 12,000,000 have been Italy's sturdiest
and best citizens. Many have returned physical wrecks, being
worn out by the strenuous labor and unhealthful conditions,
such as the rigor of our climate; many returned only to die.
This situation has alarmed the Italian government, and it has
recently taken steps to retard emigration. To solve the sit-
uation Italy must educate her people so that they can be
more productive and thus eliminate or at least reduce their
social problems.

In the United States the Italian usually goes first to the
construction camps; then when he becomes more prosperous
he becomes an organ grinder or junk dealer or sets up a fruit
stand. Economically he is prosperous; but he generally sends
a large share of this prosperity back to Italy and then later
takes the remainder with him, for he usually returns. Socially,
as we shall see later, the Italian is a problem, since he brings
a lower standard of living with him. Yet without him it would
have been very difficult to build our railroads, dig our sub-
ways, lay our sewers and streets. Economically he has been
a boon to our capitalist, but a competitor to our laborer.
Undoubtedly he has lowered wages, or rather has kept them
from advancing. Socially and morally he has been more of
a detriment than he has been a help. He has brot us such
problems as the Black Hand. He lives in crowded sections
of our cities when not in a construction camp; enduring con-
ditions and living on wages that an American would not
tolerate. He has a very high rate of illiteracy and does not
readily become assimilated — at least not so readily as some
other races of immigrants. This is largely owing to the lack
of close contact with Americans, rather than to the quality
of his mind, for the Italian is unusually quick of mind and
keen of perception. He is also of a friendly and genial dispo-

IMMIGRATION 75

sition, altho revengeful. While personally by no means a
bad fellow, as a class the Italian immigrant has been a dan-
gerous element in our population because of his competition
with labor, lack of education, and low standards of living and
of morality.

Whether we receive many Italian immigrants in the future
depends entirely upon the economic prosperity of Italy after
the return of normal times. In some ways the war has helped
Italy, in that it has given her the long desired opportunity of
starting factories. In the past this has not been possible
because of competition, especially from Germany. The war
prevented the admission of German manufactories and with
allied encouragement many factories were built. If these con-
tinue to prosper and the movement continues work can be
furnished the returned soldiers. One great handicap will be the
lack of coal but this will be offset by an abundant labor supply.
If industry is not thus built up emigration will be renewed
at an even greater rate than before the war, and if the United
States can offer them economic inducements, such as high
wages, we may expect a return of the tide of Italian immi-
gration, unless other countries should offer still greater induce-
ments. One great thing to check this will be the enforcement
of the literacy test, which will automatically debar about
half of the Italian immigrants, and the least desirable half
at that. Already Italian immigration has begun again and
indications point to its considerable increase, but whether
the great tide of previous years returns awaits to be seen.

The Slav. — The Slav is divided into eight different groups,
as follows: (1) Polish, (2) Slovak, (3) Croatian and Sloven-
ian, (4) Ruthenian or Rusniak, (5) Bohemian and Moravian,
(6) Bulgarian and Montenegrian, (7) Russian, and (8) Dal-
matian, Bosnian, and Herzegovinian. Each of these is dis-
tinct from the others but ordinarily undistinguished because
the average American is not familiar enough with European
geography to know the exact location of all these countries
and provinces from which these people come. Even our census
bureau classifies them according to the nation from which they
departed rather than according to the divisions of the Slavic
race. Each group has its own customs and characteristics
and some groups are much more desirable than others. The
Bohemians, for example, are much higher in culture and edu-
cation because of having lived in proximity to Germany; they
also furnish a higher percentage of skilled laborers.

76 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

The languages spoken by these Slavs are almost as numer-
ous as their political groups; there are at least six different
languages, to say nothing of dialects. They are as follows:
(1) Russian, divided further into Great, Little, and White
Russian; (2) Bulgarian; (3) Servo-Croatian; (4) Slovenian;
(5) Polish; (6) Bohemian and Slovak. While having a gen-
eral resemblance, they all are distinct languages and each is
rich in grammatical forms and combinations of consonants
peculiar to itself. This has added to the difficulties of our
immigration officials.

In regard to physique the Slav is short, thick-set, stocky,
and heavy in motion; he has a broad face, wide-set eyes,
usually blue in color, a broad snub nose, and a lowering fore-
head. His disposition ranges from sullen to severe. He is
characterized by a lack of aggressiveness and cohesion, altho
he makes a brave and fearless fighter when properly led. The
Pole under Napoleon was a dreaded fighter, but when he comes
into contact with the German warrior he is usually defeated
because of the lack of organization.

The Slav, coming formerly from Asia, today comprises about
one-fourth of the 400,000,000 population of Europe. Since
settling in Europe he has lost much territory, for at one time
he held half of Germany, and what was formerly Austria-
Hungary.

The economic condition in Austria-Hungary before the
war was very similar to that of Italy in respect to the use
of antique methods. The land was held in strips, for when
serfdom was abolished in 1848 the land was so divided among
the serfs that each could get a strip of meadow, a strip of
upland, and a right to pasture land.

The political conditions in Austria-Hungary before the war
was a monstrosity. Each division hated the other, and they
had few things in common, having separate money, separate
legislatures, and separate postal systems. They had a ruler
in common — or rather the Hungarians were under the Austrian
emperor. At the beginning of the war many Slavic regiments
went over in a body to the Russians, and the Austrian gov-
ernment had great difficulty in stopping desertions and com-
pelling enlistments. In many cases, especially in Galacia, it
resorted to stern methods, often killing the inhabitants of
entire villages or shooting entire regiments of their own troops
who would not obey orders. It is claimed that the twenty-
fourth Bohemian regiment, consisting of 3,000 men was mas-

IMMIGRATION 7 7

sacred in this manner, its officers turning the machine guns
upon the soldiers when they refused to fight against the Serb-
ians, and that only twenty-nine survived.

Yet the Slavs seldom hang together and are constantly quar-
reling and fighting among themselves, as was evidenced in the
Second Balkan War, when Serbia, Greece, and Roumania
turned upon Bulgaria because Bulgaria took the lion's share
of the spoils of the First Balkan War. This was probably the
strongest reason for causing Bulgaria to cast her lot with
Germany — so as to fight Serbia again. This jealousy has
kept the Balkan states from uniting and forming a strong
federation.

Social reforms are difficult with such people, for they are
too ignorant to appreciate them. They look upon disease as
being sent by God and hold any attempt to check it cowardly
because we are not willing to take what God sends. The
social standing of the peasant is below that of the merchant
but higher than that of the laborer; every peasant has a fear
of becoming a mere laborer — a possibility that has stared him
in the face constantly because of the economic conditions.
This fear has been one of the strongest incentives for emigra-
tion. Men even borrowed money in order to come to America.
The position of woman is very low; she is beaten by her hus-
band; she is considered little better than a beast of burden,
and she is often even that, working in the fields, and even
at times helping to drag the plow. This attitude towards
women is one thing that the American objects to; it is in
respect to it that the Slav finds himself in opposition to
our methods of life.

Special causes of emigration were heavy taxation, army
service, political unrest, and oppression on the part of the
government. Emigration was also stimulated by the adver-
tising of the agents of the steamship companies.

The immigrants from Russia have been mostly Jews, Poles,
Finns, Lithuanians, and Germans, or in other words, the classes
that have been persecuted or held down by the Russian gov-
ernment. Russia has for generations discriminated against
the Jews because of their greater intelligence and prosperity.
Since the conquest of Poland by Russia, Austria, and Ger-
many, Poland has been oppressed, especially Russian Poland;
therefore the Poles have migrated to obtain political liberty.
The Finns are much superior to the Russians and rank one
of the highest in percentage in literacy of all the nations of

78 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

the world, far exceeding the United States. They are highly
educated and industrious, but Russia gradually took away all
liberties from Finland, including the right to their own lan-
guage and educational system. It tried to Russianize them.
The Lithuanians have endured oppressive taxation. The Rus-
sians themselves have formed the smallest part of the Slavic
group of our immigrants, for they, encouraged by their gov-
ernment went to Siberia.

There are about 4,000,000 Slavs in the United States; they
are largely in colonies where common labor is in demand, in
places such as steel centers, like Gary and Pittsburgh. The
Polish populations of some of our cities are as follows: Chi-
cago, 250,000; Buffalo, 70,000; Milwaukee, 65,000; Detroit,
50,000; Pittsburgh, 50,000; Cleveland, 30,000; Toledo, 14,000.
There are 423,000 Slavs in Pennsylvania; 389,000 in Illinois,
and 356,000 in New York.

The economic position of the Slav is generally that of a
laborer, and if he is unskilled and cannot speak English his
wages are low, ranging before the war from $1.35 to $1.65
a day. If skilled, he gets more, especially in the steel mills.
He tries to get the prevailing wage, but before he acquires
our language and a knowledge of our customs he is unable
to do it. The increase of immigration, especially of Slavs
and Italians, forced wages down, especially in the mines. A
characteristic of the Slav is that he will accept dangerous and
unhealthful work; in the mines will work drifts that no one
else will work on account of the danger; in the steel mills
he endures long hours and hard labor.

The social and moral conditions found amongst the Slavs
are bad. Few men brot their women at first, sending for
them later. When a man sent for his wife, he generally
rented or built a little shack of one or two rooms. Then he
took in boarders and roomers, these often sleeping on the
floor as thick as space would permit. Conditions for bringing
up children are thereby made terrible. The Slav is a hard
drinker, especially of spirits, and when drinking is very dan-
gerous, being prone to fight and to commit murder. Because
the Slavs huddle together in colonies they do not come into
contact with our habits and customs; so they keep up their
old ones, sometimes even lowering their own standards of
living in order to derive as great financial returns as possible.
The housing conditions among the Slavs in the packing house
districts of Chicago are among the worst in the city. There

IMMIGRATION 79

is little regard paid to sanitation and hygiene; their moral
condition is also bad.

The greatest increase in Slavic immigration before the war
was among the Hungarians, the number of whom was in 1890
thirteen times the number in 1880; next came the Poles, the
number of whom increased eight times; then the Lithuanians
and Serbians. Bohemian immigration fell off. In very recent
years the immigration from the Balkan states has increased
quite rapidly.

Whether we receive a large Slavic immigration in the future
will depend upon the future prosperity of the Slavic states,
especially the new ones carried out by the treaty at Versailles,
If the new governments established in Poland, Hungary,
Checko-Slovacia, Jugo-Slavia, Finland, and Russia succeed
and obtain for their peoples greater economic prosperity as
well as political privileges and social conditions improve, we
can expect no great immigration from those countries. The
same will be true with regard to Roumania and Bulgaria. If
these governments fail we may expect to see a return of the
Slav in immigration, but present indications seem to point
towards a decline, rather than an increase. In many districts,
such as Poland, the population was so thinned out by the
war that there will be no surplus population for years to
come. Most of these Slavic states will begin their careers
without the burden of heavy debts because the new govern-
ments will not be obliged to assume the obligations of the
older states; this will be a decided advantage. The enforce-
ment of the literacy test will act still further to restrict Slavic
immigration because a large percentage of Slavs are illiterate.
If Slavic immigration does not return the United States will
be the gainer for we have considered this class of immigra-
tion undesirable because of their low standards, thus lowering
our standards, ideals and wages.

Other Nationalities — Greeks. — The Greeks have come
to this country in considerable numbers in the past few years,
altho they have created no great social problem because of
the smallness of the Greek population. They go mostly into
such occupations as boot-blacking and restaurant keeping.
Economically they are very prosperous, the Greek bootblack
having put the native American and colored bootblacks out
of competition. In fact that is characteristic of the Greek;
he generally takes up some such minor occupation and sys-
tematizes it and makes a good thing out of what some one

80 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

else made a failure of. One problem comes in with the boot-
black business, however — that is child labor and the conse-
quent failure to obey the school laws. A system almost like
peonage is resorted to at times, boys being brot from Greece
to work in the Greek shining parlors. The war has undoubt-
edly given Greece greater opportunities; better economic open-
ings will be offered the Greek nearer home; hence there will
be fewer inducements for him to come to America.

Armenians, Assyrians, and Syrians. — These three
nationalities are grouped together because of their similarity,
not only as regards racial stock, and appearance, but also
in regard to effect upon the United States. The Armenians
have come to this country largely because of religious perse-
cutions by the Turkish government; the first ones came at
the suggestion of the Christian missionaries among them.
Many had trades, such as baking, tailoring and shoemaking.
The amount of money brot was small, being only twenty-
three dollars per capita; the percentage of illiteracy was quite
high, being 21.9 per cent for those over fourteen years of
age. Some are highly educated merchants and are very desir-
able, but others are much less desirable. In Turkey the
Armenians have been the traders, and because of their clever-
ness and ability to get the better of the slower-witted Turks
they have been much hated. When they come to this country
they generally settle in colonies in manufacturing centers.

The Assyrians and Syrians are much alike; they have come
to this country to escape the persecution of the Turkish gov-
ernment, a persecution, which has been little better than legal-
ized robbery. They have furnished in recent years the
majority of our pack peddlers. Many of these later settle
down as small merchants.

The Armenian race barely escaped extermination during
the war and there are few of them left. Turkey is now being
broken up and greater liberties and opportunities will be given
Syria and Assyria, so we can expect to receive fewer of them
in the future. On the whole this will not be regretted, for
as a class these people have not been liked by the American
people — largely because of their swarthy appearance — altho
they have not presented the problem that the Slav and Italian
have given us; the failure to do so is, of course, partly owing
to their smaller numbers.

Portuguese. — The Portuguese have settled largely in and
around New Bedford, Massachusetts, and in the Hawaiian

IMMIGRATION 81

Islands, with a small settlement in California. A Portuguese
vessel was once wrecked near New Bedford; the sailors liked
the place and .established themselves there; from that the
Portuguese immigration started. They work in the cotton
mills of New Bedford and surrounding towns. Also they
go into market gardening, in which they are very successful,
supplanting the native Americans, largely because of their
ability to undersell them. They are very industrious but com-
pell the whole family to work; to do this they take the chil-
dren out of school as soon as the law permits, looking upon
compulsory school attendance in much the same way as they
would required military service. Their standards are lower
than that of the native Americans but they are very success-
ful in the accumulation of property^and it will be only a
matter of a few generations till theV form a sturdy part of
our population. They are small in number, however, coming
only to the regions indicated. Their landing in Hawaii
was much the same as at New Bedford. Here they work
on the plantations and as in this country, become econom-
ically successful.

French Canadians. — The French Canadians come to us
principally from Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Quebec.
They go mainly to New England, where they work in the
factories, and in doing so underbid all races. While the
English, Scotch, and Welch become our most desirable citi-
zens, the French Canadians are among our least desirable
additions, largely because they are degenerates. They became
alienated from France and never have been assimilated by
the English element in Canada. Then they have lived in
the least productive parts of Canada and have become isolated
and have dropped backward in the scale of civilization.
Because their birth rate is exceedingly high, they increase
faster than almost any other element of our population. They
do not expect to remain permanently and generally take for
a dwelling any old shack that they can find and have a strong
tendency to send their children to work in the factories at
as early an age as possible, evading whenever they can the
school laws. Besides working in the factories the French
Canadians go into the lumber camps, where they are skilled
workmen, but disliked as strongly as elsewhere. They have
a great fondness for alcohol, and drunkenness has been very
strong among them. When under the influence of liquor
they are quarrelsome and dangerous, and they often treat

82 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

their families brutally, beating their wives and children and
sometimes turning them out of doors. While small in num-
bers they form a very undesirable element, but there is appar-
ently no way to check their coming except thru the literacy
test, which will stop a large percentage of the immigration
of these people.

Japanese. — Japanese immigration was insignificant until
very recently; in fact until 1891 it amounted to less than
1,000 a year, but between 1891 and 1905, 95,000 had come
in. Yet the most of them are in Hawaii. Census figures
are inaccurate because so many Japanese have, entered by
way of Mexico and Canada. Their motive for coming is
purely economic; because of the overpopulation in Japan,
wages there are very low. Yet they bring with them on
an average forty-five dollars per capita. Their wages in this
country are much lower than wages paid to white men,
amounting before the war to from eighty-five to ninety cents
a day in the beet fields. Because they do so much work
for this small wage, they have aroused the hatred of the
American worker and have caused general dislike of the Jap-
anese. Japanese are laborers, farm hands and servants. In
California they have taken up market gardening and have
been very successful. This fact was the reason for the
alien land bill passed in California a few years ago. In
that state they are disliked very much more than the Chinese
because of their fearlessness and stubbornness; unlike the
Chinese they are not timid and will fight. While the, per-
centage of illiteracy is fairly high, being 21.6 per cent, the
Japanese have many admirable traits, having a low percent-
age of crime; habits of thrift; cleanliness and neatness in
all things; and a high respect for government. The rela-
tionship between the United States and Japan has always
been most friendly. It was the United States that opened
up Japan to the world — or rather it was the United States
that first came along after Japan was ready to be opened
up. The Japanese government has regretted the emigration
to the United States and has tried to divert it to Korea
and has been quite successful in the attempt. The govern-
ment issues few passports to the United States now and the
most of Japanese immigration comes to us by way of Hawaii.
The effect of the war upon Japan has been to give that nation
tremendous power in the East and to extend her power over
China. So the Japanese government will more and more

IMMIGRATION 83

attempt to keep her citizens in Asia, where she realizes her
future sphere is to be. Therefore we can expect to receive
fewer Japanese in the future.

Chinese. — The immigration of Chinese loomed up as a
serious problem before the exclusion acts in the 80's. These
were carried out by means of treaty agreements with China
by which Chinese were debarred from entering this country,
except for special purposes, such as studying in our schools.
Because the Chinese do not intermarry with the Americans
and because not enough Chinese women are imported to keep
up the population, the numbers are dying out or at least are
kept down. The Chinese brot with them very low standards;
they lived in hovels, ate poor food, used opium to a great
extent, and were immoral in their habits; therefore they
formed a very undesirable element. While possibly unjust
theoretically the exclusion acts were probably justified on
the grounds of social expediency. The Chinese were a seri-
ous menace to American labor on account of their willingness
to underbid the native worker and their ability to live on
less because of their lower standard of living. This has
often brot up the question of whether exclusion of a few
more nationalities might not be a good thing. Because of
international complications this policy has never been
repeated.

Hindu. — The Hindu is a class which is entirely new
and which as yet is a very unimportant element in the immi-
grant stream. But if it increases in numbers it will be very
serious, for the Hindu brings with him a low standard, lower
in fact than that of the Chinese. He is also haughty and
considers his philosophy of life superior to ours. As yet few
Hindus have come, but if they do increase, steps will have to
be taken to stop them, possible by means of a treaty with
Great Britain — a treaty which undoubtedly could be easily
negotiated. The Hindus have thus far gone more to Canada
than to the United States, but in Canada they are fully as
little desired as here; in fact many have been refused
admission.

Tides of Immigration. — Immigration has come to this
country in waves, the waves following our periods of pros-
perity. The first big wave came in 1842, when the 100,000
mark was reached. Then because of the financial uncertainty
of the next year and because of the political unrest, owing
to the Mexican War, immigration fel} off and the next wave

84 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

did not reach our shores till 1854, when 427,000 arrived.
After the Civil War the wave did not return till 1882 — when
the country had recovered from the panic of 1873; but this
time it had reached 788,000. Thereafter the number
decreased and did not reach the former level until the coun-
try had repaired the losses caused by the panic of 1893. It
increased in the later 90's and reached its crest in 1907, just
before the panic of that year; but as the immigration year
ends June 30 the panic did not affect the statistics for that
year, when 1,285,349 were received. The number of arrivals
immediately fell off but soon began again to increase until
in 1913 and 1914 the number had almost reached the high
water mark of 1907. With the beginning of the World War
immigration immediately decreased; in fact the tide turned
in the opposite direction, for many aliens returned to fight
in the European armies. The next year immigration had
fallen to 434,244, or 32.3 per cent of that of the preceding
year, and the immigration for July, 1915, was 21,504, as
compared with 60,777 for July, 1914 — a decrease of 64.4
per cent. Later immigration practically disappeared with the
entry of practically all the nations of Europe into the struggle,
with the exception of the immigration from Mexico — always
a minor element — which actually increased.

We are now, since the war is over, wondering what the
future has in store for us in respect to immigration. If, as
we have already stated, the Slavic countries of Middle Europe
are able to establish sound economic, social and political con-
ditions, we can expect this large source of past immigration
to yield us few immigrants in the future. If France and
England regain something of their former prosperity we can
not look for an increase from that quarter. The neutral
countries, especially the Scandinavian, will not be burdened
with debt and will be able to find a ready market for their
products; so we cannot look for a return of Scandinavian
immigration. In Germany and Austria there may be a strong
desire to escape the inevitable taxation and the imminent
economic depression; but on the other hand our country will
be in no temper to receive such a migration, even tho in
the past we considered the Teuton desirable; undoubtedly if
such immigration begins, our government will take steps to
end it, either by treaty or by direct legislative action. The
situation in Turkey is very uncertain but the oppressed races
in that country, that .furnished us immigrants, will receive

IMMIGRATION 85

political and religious freedom and better social and economic
conditions thru the intervention of the European nations,
hence we can expect fewer immigrants from that quarter.
Russia and Italy are the uncertain elements; the results will
depend upon their future prosperity. If Italy is unable to
gain economic prosperity by the development of industry her
people will seek to escape poverty and the increased burden
of taxation by -migration, and the United States will receive
her share — possibly more than her share, depending upon the
literacy test. With Russia the situation will largely rest
upon whether that country is able to establish a stable demo-
cratic government. She has thrown off her old despotic gov-
ernment which in the past stood in the way of progress, but
has as yet been unable to establish anything to take its place.
So if we receive much immigration in the future it will prob-
ably come from Italy and Russia, especially Italy, except that
we can expect increases from minor sources, such as Mexico,
Spain and Portugal.

READING REFERENCES

Found at End of Chapter VI.

CHAPTER VI
IMMIGRATION (Continued)

Effect of Immigration Upon the Population of the
United States. — In 1910 there were 13,345,000 foreign-born
persons in the United States— 14.5 per cent of the 92,000,000.
But if we include those born here of foreign parentage, we
find the number considerably greater, amounting in that year
to 32,243,000, or 35 per cent. And we must consider those
of foreign parentage, for very often, especially in our large
cities, the children of the foreign-born create greater problems
than do the immigrants themselves. Of course these were
not evenly distributed over the country; we find the leading
states as follows:

Percentage Percentage

States — Foreign-Born Foreign Parentage.

Rhode Island 32.8 68.7

Massachusetts 31.2 66.

New York 29.9 63.

Connecticut 29.9 63.1

North Dakota 27.1 70.6

Minnesota 26.2 71.S

New Jersey 25.9 56.6

Wisconsin 22. 68.8

California 21.8 50.

Illinois 21.3 51.9

Maryland 8. —

Missouri 7. —

Michigan 55.5

Montana 50.

Utah 50.

While nearly all the states that lead in the percentage of
foreign-born are near the top in respect to foreign parentage,
we notice a few leading in foreign parentage that have an
insignificant number of foreign-born; such are Michigan, Mon-
tana, and Utah, showing that immigrants are no longer drawn
to those states. Practically all the recent immigration went
to ten states; if we examine the figures for the ten leading
cities of the United States, arranged in order of size, we

86

IMMIGRATION 87

shall see that they received the majority of this immigration,
almost in the order of their size. Here we shall find the ratio
much the same in both columns.

Percentage Percentage

City — Foreign-Born Foreign Parentage

New York 40.4 78.6

Chicago 35.7 77.5

Philadelphia 24.7 56.8

St. Louis 18.3 54.2

Boston 35.9 72.2

Cleveland 34.9 74.8

Baltimore 13.8 37.9

Pittsburgh 26.3 62.2

Detroit 33.6 74.

San Francisco 31.4 68.3

New York is said to have the largest German population
of any city in the world after Berlin; the largest Italian pop-
ulation after Naples; the largest Irish population with no
exception, and by far the largest Jewish population.

Not only have our immigrants gone to certain localities;
but each nationality has had its own particular place or places
to settle. The Germans have had two favorite regions —
New York and Pennsylvania in the East, and Wisconsin and
Illinois in the West. Many have gone to other localities
but even there they generally have settled in colonies. The
Scandinavians have gone to Minnesota and the Dakotas.
The Italians have remained in the East, in New York, New
Jersey, Massachusetts, and Connecticut; in 1910 three- fourths
or 997,000 of the 1,343,000 immigrants born in Italy, were
living in those states and in Illinois. While the Jews come
from all countries and from all kinds of regions, they nearly
always have gone to the cities, especially to New York; 93,000
out of 149,000 who came in 1907 settled in that state. Penn-
sylvania, New Jersey, and Illinois have received the Slavs in
that general order. This flocking to our cities that were
already overcrowded has been one of 'the serious aspects
of immigration. If the newcomers had gone to the rural
regions we could easily have absorbed them. In the large
cities they live in the most thickly settled districts where
they meet only those of their own nationality or at best immi-
grants of other nationalities and seldom come into close con-
tact with the native American; so it is very difficult for us
to assimilate them. This is especially true when there is
little necessity or incentive for learning the English language

88 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

— to say nothing of our customs and habits. Here also they
easily have fallen below the poverty line and the more easily
have sunk into vice and crime, especially in the second genera-
tion. The European immigrant has not gone to the South
because of competition with the Negro.

Effect of Immigration Upon Industry. — The bulk of
the immigrants are unskilled laborers. Even if they had some
degree of skill in their native country, that skill very often
is of no avail to them in this country because of the different
methods of production. Of the 1,285,000 immigrants coming
in 1907, only 12,600 belonged to the professional classes,
and only 190,000 — or about 15 per cent — were skilled work-
men. The percentage differs greatly, moreover with the
nationalities, many of the Jews and Bohemians being skilled
as well as those nationalities coming from northern Europe.
But of the 242,000 coming from southern Italy in 1907, only
701 were skilled; of the 138,000 Poles only 273 had trades.
This invasion furnished the capitalists with a large supply
of cheap labor and consequently boomed industry, especially
those industries which need much unskilled labor, such as
the steel, woolen and cotton industries. It made big corpora-
tions and trusts possible in these lines of industry. The rail-
roads would have been handicapped without this mass to draw
from; probably many additions and improvements would not
have been made if we had had no immigration, for native
labor would have been too expensive. In short, immigration
has been a boon to the capitalist and made it possible for
him to pile up his millions. While the immigrant forms only
one-seventh of our total population, he makes up one-half of
the number of people engaged in manufacturing; one-fourth
of those in transportation; one-fourth of those in mining,
and one-fourth of those in domestic science. These are the
industries that have profited primarily by immigration.

Where the immigrant has entered an industry he has sup-
planted the native workers in that industry. But this has
not been altogether bad, for it has forced the natives up.
Then again the older races, as soon as they acquire American
standards, are in turn forced out by later arrivals. Some
illustrations of this are the following. The manufacture of
collars and cuffs was carried on formerly by the Irish; they
were supplanted by the Poles, who in turn gave way to the
Armenians. In the manufacture of woolens, worsteds, and
underwear, the Irish and English were displaced by the Poles

IMMIGRATION 89

and Italians. In the production of cotton goods the English
speaking races were pushed aside by the Italians and Poles.
In the manufacture of men's and women's clothing the Ger-
mans were supplanted by the Russians and Italians. In the
paper industry the Germans, English, and Irish were elimi-
nated by Russians and Poles. In the production of gas and
electric fixtures the Italians and Russians supplanted the
Germans. In the rope industry the Irish were pushed aside
by the Swedes, who in turn gave way to the Italians. As
good an illustration of the change can be observed in the
cotton textile industry of New England as can be found
anywhere. This industry was begun by the sons and daugh-
ters of American families, direct descendants of the founders
of this nation. Their places were taken by the Irish, but
the Irish were forced to give way to the French Canadians.
Now the French Canadians are being forced out by the Portu-
guese, Greeks, Syrians, Poles and Italians. The tailors in
New York formerly were English and Scotch, then Irish and
Germans, next Russian Jews; but now the Jews are being
driven out by the Italians. It is the same in Boston only
there the Portuguese take a hand. In Chicago the problem
is much similar, except that the addition of Poles and Bohem-
ians lends variety to the mixture. "As soon as a race rises
in the scale of living, and thru organization begins to demand
higher wages and resist the pressure of long hours and over-
exertion, the employers substitute another race and the pro-
cess is repeated".1

While immigration has helped to build up the United States
industrially it has brot about other conditions which are not
satisfactory. The large profits derived from these industries
have not gone to pay higher wages, provide better dwellings
for the workers, or even to provide better streets and more
improvements for the manufacturing towns; instead they have
gone into the pockets of the stockholders. They have gone
to pay dividends on stock, much of which consists of water,
and to pay large salaries to managers. President Wood of
the American Woolen Company was said to be receiving a
salary of $50,000 at the time of the Lawrence strike in the
winter of 1911-12, at which time the average wage in his
mills was under six dollars a week; some workers receiving
as low as three dollars a week.

1Commons, "Races and Immigrants in America".

90 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OB" SOCIOLOGY

Effect of Immigration Upon Labor. — While immigra-
tion has been a distinct aid to the capitalist, it has been an
equally distinct detriment to the laborer. The influx of such
a great mass of labor, especially unskilled labor, in such a
short time and in such limited districts has upset the balance
of supply and demand. Wages are fixed not by the produc-
tivity of labor in actual life but by the supply of labor
coupled with its bargaining position. Productivity of labor
only sets its upper limit, one above which wages cannot go;
the actual wage paid is often far below it. Hence immigra-
tion has kept the wages of American workmen from advanc-
ing as rapidly as they otherwise would have done, for, while
the immigrant has come to this country to make a fortune;
works for money, and wants the highest wage possible, he
is not in a position to demand it. Wages are not paid accord-
ing to the desire or need of the worker but almost on the
contrary; if one needs a high wage, that need will count
against one in attempting to get it. One's necessity decreases
one's power of resistence and lowers the bargaining position.
The employer pays as small a wage as possible; since the
immigrant has little money and must take any work he can
get; he cannot haggle over higher wages. Also immigrant
labor is unorganized and is not able to present a solid front
against capital; the immigrant bargains only as an individual.
The employer does not care whether a certain man or some
one else has the job; so there is no position for argument —
the immigrant has to take what is offered. Thus being ignor-
ant not only of our customs, habits and language, but also of
our prices, he thinks the wage offered to him a good one.

Because of his ignorance the more recent immigrant is
hard to organize into the unions to which the Irish took so
easily. Besides as soon as one class or race reached the state
where they were able to be organized, the employers saw to
it that their place was taken by newer arrivals. This was
satisfactory to the employer but not favorable to the worker,
for it kept wages down.

The same lack of funds that prevented advantageous bar-
gaining in the city kept the immigrant from going to the
rural districts, for he had no money with which to buy land
or stock a farm. Then too the farmer, suspicious of him
because of his difference in speech, habits, and customs, and
disliking his unpresentable appearance, has not wanted him
as a laborer. Hence he has been forced into the industries

\ IMMIGRATION 91

in the already overcrowded centers, where he is desired by
the employer because of his willingness to being driven at
a hard pace and his submission to longer hours than the
American will tolerate. He will also do more dangerous
work, especially in the mines, entering dangerous drifts and
working under conditions that his predecessor would not
endure. This is especially true of the Slav. It is partially
owing to his ignorance of the actual danger and of the fact
that he is working longer hours than other people. In this
way the advantage is always taken of him by the employer.

It is sometimes given as an argument against immigration
that the immigrants send vast quantities of money back to
Europe. In 1907 they sent back $275,000,000. But we must
recognize the fact that Europe produced these immigrants and
that it would have cost us at least $1,000 each to do this.
As we received that same year (1907) over a million and a
quarter of immigrants, worth to America as economic machines
at least $1,000,000,000, there was left to our credit a balance
of $725,000,000— a very profitable account.

Social Effects of Immigration. — Standard of Living. —
In our study of the different nationalities that make up our
immigrant population we noticed that each nationality brot
with it the standard of living of the country from which it
came. This was particularly emphasized in regard to their
ideas of wages and the necessities of life — in other words,
their standards of income and expenses. We found that the
immigrant has been detrimental to the native American work-
man because he was able and willing to live on a lower
economic plane. He has been contented with earning less
and desirous of spending less. But this standard of livirig
applies not only to the quality of food, raiment, and shelter,
but also to etriical and moral .standards. While the economic
standard affects the whole of life to a greater or less degree,
there are perhaps other standards fully as important. The
immigrant brings with him different ideas in regard to
woman's position. She is looked upon as an inferior, and
among many races is treated merely as a drudge. This is
particularly true of the Poles; their women expect to be
beaten by their husbands; in fact they sometimes consider it
strange if their husbands do not beat them. After the new-
comers live in the United States some time they change their
ideas, of course; but the Poles are constantly getting into
trouble with the police for beating their wives. The Germans

92 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOG"^

have a low estimate of woman, considering that it is her
place to wait upon the man. The Italian treats his wife
very well altho he will allow her to work in the fields with
him or to go into industry till the household finances improve;
but as soon as this improvement takes place she leaves the
field and factory. The immigrant has different ideas likewise
in regard to education. He looks upon compulsory education
as a nuisance and sends his children to school only when
compelled to do so. He thinks of children not as liabilities
but as assets, and generally regards education as a necessary
evil because it reduces the immediate possible earnings of
the family. As soon as the child reaches the age limit for
compulsory attendance the child is taken from the school,
seldom being left to finish the term or even week. This
desire to increase the earnings leads to child labor and fraudu-
lent methods of obtaining working permits and to other
methods of dodging the school or child labor laws. The
second generation, however, feels the need of an education.
They generally see to it that their children attend school.
The immigrant, especially the French, German, and Russian,
brings with him ideas of vice that differ from the American
point of view. Moral codes are not so strict in Europe as
in the United States; there is, in many countries, state regu-
lation of vice, and prostitution is looked upon as a profession
which is strictly within the pale of the law. This has had
a damaging effect upon our own standards in this matter.
Our brothels have become filled to a great extent by immi-
grant women, of whom many have been imported for the pur-
pose and others enticed or forced into them after arrival here.
The immigrant woman is ignorant of our customs and is an
easy victim. In Europe prostitutes, are examined and to some
extent remain free from disease, but in this country there
has been no examination and because of this fact the immi-
grants scatter the venereal diseases more than they did in
their native country. The immigrant has been compelled
by economic conditions to live in close proximity to the red-
light districts in our large cities, and has thus been exposed
to greater temptation and has run a greater danger of con-
tracting disease. The effect has been especially damaging
upon the second generation. Many of the immigrants have
brot with them habits of drinking; the Irish have a fondness
for whiskey, as has also the Pole; the growth of the brewery
industry and the tremendous increase in beer drinking has

IMMIGRATION 93

been chiefly caused by German immigration. Among these
peoples the saloon keeper, in anti-prohibition days, held a
position of social prestige, much the same as that held among
the early Puritans by the tavern keeper. The matter of Sab-
bath observance offers another instance of difference in stand-
ards. The immigrant has come from a country where little
observance of the Sabbath is held and this fact has undoubt-
edly had a great deal to do with the decline in the observance
of the Sabbath among us. Now what has been the result
of thus bringing together peoples with two entirely different
standards? While it has raised the standard of the immi-
grant and lifted the average, it has unquestionably lowered
our standard. Moreover, the immigrant has been thrown
among the lowest classes of Americans and thereby has not
come into contact with our highest and best standards; so
often our effect upon him has not been salutary.

Crime. — It is often stated that immigration has increased
crime and has helped to fill our prisons and penitentiaries;
but statistics do not prove this, at least to a degree at all
alarming. The Special Prison Census of 1904 shows that
at that time 23.7 per cent of the male white prisoners in the
United States were foreign-born and that 23 per cent of the
general male white population over fifteen years of age were
foreign-born. In 1910 the percentage of the male white pris-
oners was 22.3 while the percentage of our population had
slightly increased. The percentage of commitments was
larger, amounting in 1910 to 26.1 of the male white prison
population. The reason for this was the larger number of
minor offences, like drunkenness, or disorderly conduct, com-
mitted by the immigrant. When we consider that crime is
committed by men in the prime of life, and that the immigrant
is away from home, possible completely separated from all
home ties and necessarily passing thru a crisis in his life
career, and that in addition, he is thrown into our worst
environment, we must admit that the showing is very good
and far from alarming. Statistics for those of foreign par-
entage are not as favorable, thus reflecting upon our influence
upon the immigrant. Since the children of the immigrants
are often reared in our worst slums under inadequate control
of their parents, this condition can be easily explained. The
parents are away working all day — the mother frequently as
well as the father — and the children are left to shift for them-
selves. Even when the parents are at home the children

94 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

frequently look down upon them because of their ignorance
and uncouth appearance. The children can speak English;
the parents often never learn it; because of this difference
the child is more advanced in many ways than the parent,
and so instead of respecting the father and mother the child
often despises them. Having as a consequence no guide in
life, the child easily drifts into the habits of those around him.

Some races are much more addicted to crime than others.
The Irish lead all nationalities; in 1910 they made up 10.1
per cent of the foreign-born population, yet they furnished
26.9 per cent of their crimes. Yet these crimes were mostly
of a petty nature, particularly drunkenness and disorderly
conduct. The Italians, on the contrary, commit the serious
offences, leading all nationalities in assaults. In 1904, 14.4
per cent of the major offenders in the United States were
Italians, while the Italians made up but 4.7 per cent of our
population. In New York City 26.9 per cent of those con-
victed of crimes of personal violence in 1907-8 were Italians,
yet the Italians made up only seven per cent of the popula-
tion of the city in 1910. The Black Hand is another serious
problem with the Italians. Slavs, especially the Poles, are
also inclined to crimes of personal violence, particularly when
under the influence of liquor. But after all, considering the
facts that the immigrant is in a new country; that he is
ignorant of the laws, which are different from the ones to
which he has been accustomed; that he is cut loose from
all home ties; and that he has an unequal chance in court,
being before an unsympathetic judge and having little chance
for defense, and so being more liable to conviction, it cannot
be proved that the immigrant is criminal. The wonder is
that he is not convicted more often than he is.

Illiteracy. — Immigration has contributed largely to the
illiteracy situation in the United States, especially in the north-
ern states. Of the 5,516,000 illiterates in the United States
in 1910, 1,535,000 were native whites and 1,650,000 were
foreign-born. In the southern states illiteracy is increased
largely because of the negro but in the north it is almost
wholly caused by immigration, as is shown by the following:

Locality — Total Illiteracy Native White Foreign-Born

New York State 5.5% .7% 13.7%

Massachusetts 5.2 .5 12.7

New York City 6.7 .3 13.2

Boston . . 4.4 .1 10.

IMMIGRATION

95

We find that the percentage of illiteracy differs greatly with
the race. The ratio for all immigrants in 1907 was 30 per
cent, but it differed as follows among the various nation-
alities:

Southern Italy 53%

Poles 40

Slovaks 25

Ruthenians 56

Russian Jews 29

France 4%

Germany 4

Irish 3

English 2

Scandinavian „, 1

The children of immigrants learn our language; the grand-
children of these immigrants are on a par with children of
native ancestry. We find that where the percentage of illit-
eracy among immigrants is high, the amount of money brot
in is low; in fact if we inverted the above column we should
have almost the correct standing in, regard to economic con-
ditions. We find illiteracy much greater among females than
among males, owing to the position of woman in Europe.
Women acquire our language much more slowly than men,
owing to the fact that men mingle more with Americans
and are thus compelled to learn the language much more
quickly. This is noticed in the Southwest where most of
the Mexican men can speak English — at least enuf to be
understood — and few women can either speak or understand
any English. Illiteracy is really quite a serious problem,
for it makes assimilation difficult. If an immigrant can read
and write his own language it is much easier to learn our
language; if he cannot, learning our language is a laborious,
if not impossible, task. If an immigrant never learns to read
or write English, the newspapers, magazines, and books never
appeal to him; thus the channels of approach are nearly all
closed and it is very, difficult to teach such an immigrant
our customs and habits, to say nothing of our ideals and
standards of living. These are the reasons why a literacy
test was so strongly urged and a law requiring it finally
passed, in spite of the vetoes of our chief executives.

Poverty. — Since the immigrant came to America in the
prime of life, when he was at his greatest earning capacity,
and since he was usually single, other things being equal we
should expect few paupers on the same ground that we should
expect a high rate of criminality. Yet on the other hand the
immigrant was handicapped by ignorance, especially of our
language, and so was often in need of temporary assistance.
Because he was at the bottom of the ladder economically,

96 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

if he failed to get work or lost his position after he got one,
he was in a bad condition and had to fall back upon public
or private charity. If he had a family he was badly handi-
capped, and even if he was working he found it exceedingly
difficult to support his family because of our high prices and
because of the low wages which he, as a result of his ignor-
ance and lack of skill, was forced to receive.

In 1907-8, according to the report of the Commissioner
of Immigration, out of 288,395 inmates of our charitable
institutions in the United States, 60,025 were foreign-born
— about 21 per cent. Yet the foreign-born make up but 15
per cent of our population. In New York the percentage
was not so high, being only 10.4 per cent for inmates of char-
itable institutions. These figures are not at all bad but
they do not show the real problem by any means. Many of
our immigrants, who never apply for public aid, are in des-
perate financial condition. Often their children are sent to
school without any food or at best with insufficient food to
permit the carrying on of successful school work. It has been
estimated at times that from 25 per cent to 30 per cent of
the school children in such cities as New York and Chicago
have insufficient food to keep up vitality to a point that would
enable them to do their school work in a satisfactory manner,
and an undue percentage of these are children of the foreign-
born. Often both parents are away working and the child
gets either no lunch or an insufficient one. This condition
is more serious than adult poverty, for it means a stunted and
degenerate second generation. In fact the problem is the
same as with crime; it is the second generation that slumps.
Being thrown upon the streets for recreation, the children
lose their independence and do not have the energy and thrift
of their parents; they feel less responsibility for making both
ends meet. They also become stunted and degenerate phys-
ically because of their surroundings, the lack of nutritious food,
the absence of fresh air, and the existence of unhealthful con-
ditions in general. These conditions have been caused by
the ignorance and poverty of their parents, who live in the
worst tenements in the cities, shut their windows at night,
and crowd together in an awful fashion. Since the second
generation is physically unfit and lacking in moral stamina,
it is not loathe to fall back upon charity. This is a problem
that can be dealt with; it can be largely eliminated by proper
building codes, which forbid the erection and use of tene-

IMMIGRATION 97

ments that do not allow fresh air, by proper inspection in
regard to overcrowding, and the institution of some care in
regard to seeing that the children are properly looked after.
Proper child-labor legislation and inspection will eliminate
much of this trouble. A minimum wage will enable the par-
ents to earn more and so to provide better food, clothing and
shelter. The condition that now exists is largely the fault
of our civilization rather than that of the immigrant.

However, with the change in immigration from northern
to southern Europe, we do find a difference in the attitude
towards the receipt of help. We find that the Italians, espe-
cially those from southern Italy, and particularly those from
Naples, expect help to a certain extent. They hear of our
methods of dispensing charity and come here with an expec-
tancy of receiving aid. Upon arrival they quickly learn of
the institutions and associations that aid in poor relief. The
older immigrants expect to carve out their destinies by their
own efforts; the newer ones are not so strongly imbued with
this sentiment. However, on the whole, the pauperism side
has been greatly exaggerated; but the poverty situation, bring-
ing with it a degenerating effect upon the second generation,
probably has been minimized.

Miscellaneous Social Effects. — The decay of religious sen-
timent with its resulting disregard for the Sabbath, has already
been mentioned. Another thing to be noticed is the change
in the religious faith with the change of the source of immi-
gration— from the Protestant to the Catholic. Our recent
immigrants come almost entirely from Catholic countries.
This in itself is no problem altho we find the Catholic Church
on the whole more conservative than the Protestant and oppos-
ing many of our reforms, particularly woman suffrage and
prohibition. Its adherents have a much lower regard for
woman than Protestants have. The Catholic Church as a
rule encourages large families in order to increase the number
of adherents; but generally these large families come in the
classes that are least able to care for them and so tend to
increase poverty. On the other hand the Catholic Church
has a splendid organization for poor relief.

The matter of education has been mentioned in regard to
the reluctance of immigrants to sending their, children to
school and in regard to their habit of taking their children
out as soon as the law will allow it. Another phase of this
problem comes in the difficulty of appealing to the child

(C)

98 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

while he is in school. He is not familiar with our condi-
tions, traditions and history; so the teacher finds great diffi-
culty in linking the teachings of the school to the home life
of the child. The teachers are usually women, and because
the immigrant has a low regard for woman, the child of the
immigrant has little respect for the teacher. On the whole
the immigrant child is a serious problem. Then the problem
is increased by the fact that poor nutrition, insufficient cloth-
ing, and inadequate sanitation make the immigrant child
unfit physically to respond to the efforts of the teacher.

Immigration has upset the proportion of the sexes. For a
considerable number of years about two-thirds of the immi-
grants were males; in 1907 the proportion was 929,976 males
and 355,373 females. This has been the strongest reason
for the existing plurality of males in the United States. We
ordinarily look upon immigration as one of the principal
causes for the increase of our population, but we should
remember that the immigrant began to come in large numbers
in the 40's, the birth-rate of the native population has steadily
declined. Some writers from this fact argue that if we had
had no immigration our population would have increased just
as rapidly, that the birth rate of the native fell off, in propor-
tion to the immigration, and that as the native was forced to
compete with the immigrant the birth-rate fell off on that
account. On the other hand, the birth-rate might have dimin-
ished any way and immigration may have been the means
of keeping up the increase in our population. Some students
go so far as to show statistics proving that the South has
increased as rapidly without immigration as the North has
with it; but because of errors in the statistics and because
other causes have been at work such comparisons are omitted
here. Since immigration has forced the native up in the
economic scale and since the upper classes usually have fewer
children, immigration may have been a cause in the decline
in the native birth-rate; but even if this is true the writer
fails to see what loss the country has suffered. However
this is all a matter of theory, and we have nothing definite
to show 'hat immigration has affected our birth-rate, altho
in all probability it has done so.

It is c/ily natural that we should find immigration causing
a social disturbance, for the introduction of any new element
brings about an upheaval in any society; it is to be expected
that difficulties of assimilation should be encountered. If

IMMIGRATION 99

immigration is well scattered, assimilation is accelerated; but
if the immigrants settle in communities, where their life is
more or less complete and where they are not compelled to
come into contact with the natives, assimilation is much more
difficult and of course is greatly retarded.

Political Effects of Immigration. — The immigrant of
yesterday has to a great extent become the citizen of today;
the immigrant of today will to the same extent become the
citizen of tomorrow. Professor Ross estimates that in 1910
there were three million naturalized citizens in the United
States, and that in certain sections of the country, such as
parts of New England, New York, and the Middle West,
they constituted at least one-fourth of the voters. The danger
lies in the fact that when the immigrant becomes a citizen,
not having behind him the traditions of the native, he does
not realize the value of the ballot. This, coupled with his
ignorance of American political methods makes him an easy
mark for the ward politician and the party boss. He was
in the past to a great extent under the control of the saloon-
keeper. The ballot too often is simply the means of adding
to his income, as is expressed in a letter of the Italian — writing
to his friend in Palermo, referred to by Professor Ross1—
"Come over here quick, Luigi, this is a wonderful country.
You can do anything you want to, and, besides they give you
a vote you can get two dollars for". This situation is one
reason that such political machines as Tammany in New York
and Butler's "Indians" in St. Louis get such control over the
vote of the naturalized citizens and are enabled to swing
this vote in any way they wish. While cities that have a
low percentage of immigrants have in many cases as corrupt
governments as some which have a much higher percentage,
the immigrant vote is not so intelligent as the native vote and
therefore can be exploited in a greater manner. Some nation-
alities have a fondness for politics; this is especially true of
the Irish, who are our leading politicians, and who swing the
vote of their nationality almost as a body. For the past
twenty-five or thirty years it has been almost impossible
in Boston to elect a mayor or in fact almost any other official
who was not Irish. The Poles in Chicago rival the Irish in
Boston, only in a lesser degree. The immigrant does not
concern himself much over our issues or principles, but votes

^Century Magazine, January, 1914.

100 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

rather for a friend; such machines as Tammany control him
because they see to it that he is befriended when in need.
While by no means alarming, the immigrant forms a some-
what dangerous element in politics.

Legislative Restrictions Upon Immigration. — Congress rec-
ognized no problem in immigration till 1875, altho long before
that time the public began to feel that there was a problem;
legislation is always slower than public opinion. In 1875
Congress passed an act excluding women imported for immoral
purposes, convicts and contract laborers.

In 1882 the first general act was passed as relating to the
control of foreign commerce. This act ordered the exclusion
of persons liable to become public charges, such as lunatics,
idiots, and those without means of taking care of themselves.
It assessed a fine against any steamship company and captain
importing such and compelled the steamship company to give
them free transportation back to the country of embarkation.

The Act of 1891 added to these classes those afflicted with
loathsome or contagious diseases, polygamists, and any one
whose passage was paid by another, unless affirmatively shown
that he was not otherwise objectionable. It prohibited the
extensive advertising of the steamship companies, limiting
the advertising to the publishing of the fares and the dates
of sailing. This provision however, has become a dead letter
because of the lack of jurisdiction and inspection. This act
provided for the exclusion within one year of those immi-
grants who had entered unlawfully and of those who had
become public charges from causes operative prior to their
landing. A head tax of fifty cents to pay for the expenses
of inspection and relief of the immigrant upon landing was
levied.

The Act of 1893, after providing for some administrative
features, increased the head tax to two dollars and added to
the excluded lists procurers, anarchists, and those assisted by
others than friends; and it extended the examination to cabin
passengers. In 1897 this head tax was raised to four dollars.

Th Act of 1903 was more extensive; after reducing the
head tax to two dollars, it reclassified the excluded classes as
follows: (1) idiots, (2) insane, (3) epileptics, (4) persons
who have been insane within five years prior to arrival, (5)
persons who have had two or more attacks of insanity at
any previous time, (6) paupers, (7) persons likely to become
charges, (8) professional beggars, (9) persons afflicted

IMMIGRATION 101

with a dangerous or loathsome disease, (10) persons con-
victed of some felony or misdemeanor involving moral turpi-
tude (not including those convicted of purely political
offences), (11) polygamists, (12) anarchists, or persons who
believe in or advocate the overthrow by force or violence
either of the government of the United States, or of all gov-
ernments, or of all forms of law; or favor the assassination
of public officials; (13) prostitutes, (14) persons who pro-
cure or attempt to bring in prostitutes or women for purposes
of prostitution, (15) those whose passage has been paid by
others, unless it is affirmatively proved that they do not belong
to any other of the excluded groups — or that they have been
sent for by relatives or friends- in this country. No mention
is made of contract laborers because the acts of 1885 and
1888 on this subject still hold good.

In addition to this legislation by means of treaty arrange-
ments with China during the 80's, Chinese immigration is
prohibited.

The Act of 1907 kept the most of the features of the Act
of 1903; it defined a little better the excluded classes, again
raised the head tax to four dollars, and included the contract
labor clause. It provided for the return of an alien within
three years who was found in a house of prostitution or who
engaged in prostitution as a business. It also provided a
fine of $5,000, or five years imprisonment, for bringing in
women for prostitution; $1,000 fine for bringing in contract
laborers; $1,000 fine for attempting to land anyone who was
liable to exclusion; $100 fine on the steamship company for
every immigrant denied admission, and $300 fine on the
steamship company for each excluded immigrant denied trans-
portation back. It also gave elaborate specifications for the
mechanism of inspection, examination and detention of those
waiting special examinations, and adequate provisions for the
deportation of those excluded later.

By the Act of February, 1917, the famous literacy test,
over which there has been so much contention, was ^<ded to
the qualifications for entrance into this country. This pro-
vision had been previously passed by Congress a number
of times but had met with the presidential veto on the part
of Cleveland, Taft, and Wilson. After it had been vetoed
twice by President Wilson, the necessary two-thirds vote was
obtained in Congress and it became a law. This act excludes
from the United States all aliens over sixteen years, o'f age

102 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF1 SOCIOLOGY

who cannot read the English language or some other language
or dialect. Provision is made for any admissible alien to
bring in or send for his wife, father, mother, grandfather,
grandmother, and unmarried or widowed daughter. The
father or grandfather must be at least fifty-five years of age,
and otherwise admissible. While a literacy test will not
exclude criminals or vicious persons, it is hoped that it will
stop a large part of the undesirable immigration. It will be
unjust at times and may keep from our shore many who
would make desirable citizens; on the whole it will keep
away a far greater number who would make undesirable addi-
tions. Some minor provisions were included in this act
but this test is the chief provision in the bill.

In addition to these restrictions, many laws have been
passed, beginning as early as 1819, looking to protection of
the immigrant, to prevention of overcrowding of vessels, to
provision of air space and proper food, to protection against
swindlers, etc. Some acts were even passed to encourage
immigration. Not until 1882 did the Federal government
take charge of immigration, it having been left to the state
of entry. Up until that time no state had passed laws against
immigration because it was not previously considered really
detrimental; many states had passed laws encouraging it.

As a result of heavy fines assessed on steamship companies,
these companies hold examinations upon embarkation and
as a result few applicants have recently been refused admis-
sion on this side. Some of the laws work injustice at times,
especially the contract labor laws, which exclude the best
as well as the poorest, for those holding good positions in
Europe will not give them up until they are assured better
positions here. This was especially true of opera singers,
teachers and other professional peoples, and exceptions had
to be made for them. But it still keeps out much skilled
labor.

Proposed Legislation. — Increase of the Head Tax. — An
increase in the amount of the head tax is generally condemned,
for it would only be a means of making the new arrival
poorer; it moreover would be a tax upon those least able
to pay — a policy which is contrary to the present theory of
taxation.

Require a definite amount of money upon arrival. If each
immigrant were required to possess a minimum amount of
money, it would tend to insure the newcomer against falling

IMMIGRATION 103

into immediate distress. It would make coming to this coun-
try more difficult, and so would be a check on the undesirable
class. Yet wealth is never a test of desirability. Such a
requirement could easily be evaded, for a friend would often
lend the required amount; yet if one had such credit it would
denote character, for it would require honesty to get the
money. Then all immigrants do not need the same amount,
for those going to live with relatives or friends can, easily
get work. On the whole, however, such a requirement would
undoubtedly prevent much misery and distress.

Physical Test. — If a physical test is imposed it would be
absolute. But it would be difficult to set a standard that
would suit the different races. It would require a great
amount of work. It might, however, be much better than
a financial test. At* any rate it would help maintain the
physical efficiency of our race.

Consular Inspection. — Several years ago a desire for con-
sular inspection was very popular. Under this system there
would be inspection on the other side carried on by the Amer-
ican consuls. There are several objections to such a plan.
It would require a great increase in our consular service. It
would result in a great rush just before the sailing of a vessel.
It would necessitate the employing of many clerks, some of
whom would likely be incompetent. There would be endless
chance for graft. Moreover consuls would not always be
experts, such as we have at Ellis Island. In addition there
would have to be a second inspection at this end to see if
the immigrants had consular certificates and to see if the
consular certificates were true or false. This would be a
double expense. On the other hand there are some distinct
advantages to be gained. We have no way on this side of
the ocean of looking up an immigrant to inquire in regard to
his character, ancestors, or even criminal record. On the
other side this material would be available. So the consul,
because of his greater opportunity to get information, would
in this respect be better qualified. The scheme would add
no new restrictions and would be no check upon immigra-
tion; it would in many cases save the immigrant much trouble
and expense. At present, however, the steamship companies
examine them so as not to bring any who would be liable
to be rejected.

Limitation of Numbers. — One plan that has been sug-
gested is to allow only a certain number to come during any

104 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES Of SOCIOLOGY

one year. Such a limitation would not be fair and would not
keep out the undesirables. It would mean to take of all
kinds till the allotted number was reached.

Mental Test. — Different sorts of mental tests have been
recommended, but questions arise as to what tests would be
used and how they could be put into practice. It would be
very difficult, if not impossible, to get a fair test.

Require Certificates of Good Character. — A requirement
of certificates of good character would only lead to fraud.
Who has ever seen any person, no matter how disreputable
or dishonest, who was not able to get a pocket full of such
certificates? Frequently the more dishonest he is, the better
the certificates are.

Discriminate Against Certain Nations. — It has been sug-
gested that we exclude certain nations, -as the Italians, Rus-
sians and other Slavic nationalities, just as we did the Chinese.
This plan would lead to international troubles. Unless such
exclusion could be done by means of treaties with the coun-
tries that did not want their citizens to emigrate, it would
be a bad international policy.

Add to the Excluded Classes. — We do not allow anarchists
who believe in no government. Why not exclude socialists
who believe in the government doing everything? One is at
one extreme, the other at the opposite. This would never do,
for the socialistic program is generally recognized as an advance
on our own — in other words, a reform. We argue against
socialism because of the inability to practice it, because
of the imperfections of man; but forbidding the socialist would
be reactionary and a backward step.

Shall we exclude the unskilled laborers? But we often
need him — in fact have needed him badly since the war —
and he is often very desirable as a citizen. "Exclude the
'birds of passage' ". But how are we going to determine how
long a man intends to remain here or how soon he is liable
to change his mind? "Exclude those without families." But
those without families are least liable to fall upon charity.
They are thus better able to take care of themselves. "Exclude
the aged." But there are very few of them and they generally
have relatives to care for them. Then too the aged do not
have small children dependent upon them, to suffer by their
poverty if they fall into distress.

Exclude All. — Total exclusion would be far too drastic.
It would be entirely contrary to the spirit of the constitution

IMMIGRATION 105

and the standards of the nation, for we have always stood
as the home of the free and the haven of the oppressed.

Compel Steamship Companies to Furnish Better Accom-
modations. — Ideally such a regulation seems good, but it
would only increase the expenses of transportation and so
would add to the burden of those coming.

Arguments for restriction hang upon the following four
leading viewpoints:

1 . Industrial. — Whether or not we consider immigration
a benefit here depends largely upon whether we are capitalists
or laborers. From the standpoint of the employer of labor,
immigration is a great benefit, for it furnishes an abundance
of cheap labor, labor which is also easily controlled. This
enables the development of great industrial concerns and big
business in general. It makes possible the development of
new industries — industries which might not otherwise be built
up. From the standpoint of labor, immigration is a sharp
detriment, because it upsets the balance of supply and demand
by increasing the supply of labor without a corresponding
increase in the demand for it, and consequently keeps wages
from increasing as rapidly as they otherwise would do. It
causes unemployment, resulting in poverty and suffering.
When immigration was checked in 1915 by the World War,
the unemployment problem in the United States ceased to
exist, for as soon as business adjusted itself to new condi-
tions there was practically no unemployment. All workers
who were efficient and able were employed. While immigra-
tion usually has forced the native worker up in the industrial
struggle, it has sometimes kept him down, that is, if he was
unprepared to rise.

2. Political. — Whether the addition to our voting pop-
ulation will bring new blood into our political life or whether
it will form an element which will undermine our institutions
is the question from the political standpoint. The naturalized
voter does not have back of him that which the native voter
has and does not look upon the ballot in the same way;
hence he is more easily controlled by corrupt party machines.
This condition is the most serious in the larger cities, altho
probably not nearly as serious as it is sometimes pictured.
Often coming from a country where he has had no experience
in popular government, the immigrant is much less capable
of using the ballot than the native, even if his ideals and
motives be as high.

106 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

3. Social. — Socially the problem is whether immigration
is detrimental to our social life — whether it adulterates our
ideas of morality, increases crime, adds to the numbers of
our dependent classes, and lowers our standard of living. The
introduction of any new element necessarily causes confu-
sion and if the newer element is a decidedly lower one
and insists on remaining compact, then the problem is
increased. The earlier immigration was assimilated without
much difficulty; but the recent immigration has been entirely
different. Then, too, our facilities for assimilation have
changed; our cheap land is gone, and we are becoming an
industrial rather than an agricultural country. To assimi-
late the new immigration requires hard work; it cannot be
left to be accomplished without aid. The present problems
are as much our fault as that of the immigrant. When we
realize this fact and set ourselves systematically to the prob-
lem of making citizens out of the immigrants, then we can
hope for better results. It will require the co-operation of
our schools, churches, Y. M; C. A., settlements, and in fact
all our social organizations to affect it.

4. Biological. — Whether the infusion of new blood will
be for the advantage or disadvantage of our race biologically
is an unsettled question. A mongrel race is ordinarily con-
sidered superior to a thorobred race, provided of course the
mongrel race is made up of the best blood of the several
races. If it is made up of the leftovers, of the degenerates
of several races, then the result will be poorer than any of
the races taken singly. Have we received the best blood or
the poorest? If we get the best blood of Italy, Austria, and
the Slavic countries, that best may be inferior to the blood
of the American, which comes from the finest blood of north-
ern Europe. So the intermingling of the races from southern
Europe may be bad, even if we receive the strongest elements
of those races. The success of the American nation in the
past has been largely owing to the fact that we were made
up of the strongest elements of the hardiest nations of Europe;
we are loathe to lose this advantage by taking into our midst
races that are inferior because they have been crushed and
dpwn-trodden for centuries.

Future Immigration. — Just what will be the immigra-
tion situation in the future is impossible to predict just now.
Some authorities predict that the demand for labor in Europe
will be so great that few will desire or be permitted to leave.
Others think that the burdens of taxation in many of the

IMMIGRATION 107

countries will cause a great rush to this country; that thou-
sands will be displaced in the reorganization of industry and
will be forced to migrate; and that it is essential for us to
prepare for this rush by placing proper restrictions upon
immigration before it sets in. At any rate the question is
well worth considering. If the peace terms are successfully
carried out, the lot of the common people in many countries
of Europe will be better, in spite of the burdens of taxation;
therefore the motives for migration will be less. In that
case we can expect a much smaller immigration than we had
in the past. If on the other hand there is some defect in
these terms and if some forces, possibly not seen now, thwart
their being successfully carried out, immigration may again
return to us. Of course we shall receive a certain amount of
immigration because under modern commercial conditions
there is always some movement from one country to another.
Then, altho better conditions prevail in Europe than before
the war, if America offers even greater inducements than
those given in Europe, we can expect future immigration,
altho possibly in smaller numbers than heretofore. But the
present outlook is that as a great overshadowing problem in
the United States immigration is at an end. If it returns
it will in all probability be a minor problem, and one with
which we shall be in a much better position to grapple, both
in regard to furnishing better conditions in which to live
and in our understanding of the different European races,
resulting from our taking part in the war, but also from the
greater realization of our own defects.

READING REFERENCES

FAIRCHILD, H. P., Immigration.

HALL, P. F., Immigration.

JENKS, J. AND LAUCK, W. J., The Immigrant Problem.

COMMONS, J. R., Races and Immigrants in America.

MAYO-SMITH, R., Emigration and Immigration.

WARNE, F. W., The Immigrant Invasion.

STEINER, E. A., On the Trail of the Immigrant.

STEINER, E. A., The Immigrant Tide.

BALCH, EMILY G., Our Slavic Fellow -Citizens.

FoERSTER, R. F., Italian Emigration of Our Times.

FAUST, A. B., The German Element in the United States.

FAIRCHILD, H. P., The Greek Immigration to the United States.

COOLIDGE, MARY R., Chinese Immigration.

SEWARD, G. F., Chinese Immigration.

ROBERTS, PETER, The New Immigration.

REPORT, Immigration Commission, 1907.

REPORT, New York Commission of Immigration, 1909.

CHAPTER VII
URBAN MIGRATION

A social phenomenon which has been at work almost since
civilization began is the movement of peoples from the coun-
try to the city. The first that we know of it was in the two
iters of civilization, the valleys of the Nile and the
Tigris-Euphrates, in both of which there sprang up cities of
importance. Similar centers of population developed in the
rich river valleys of India and China. These places were
thickly settled because of their ability to support large popu-
lations. As a result of these populations there developed
trade and commerce, and consequently trade centers; these
in turn drew larger populations. But the city of ancient
times was primarily a military stronghold or a place of wor-
ship, and therefore an elevated position or a place for some
other reason difficult of access was chosen for the purpose
of protection. Jerusalem, Athens, Tyre, and Rome are exam-
ples of this idea. If there was no such inaccessible place
at hand, great walls were constructed for protection, as in
the case of Babylon and Ninevah. During the Middle Ages,
under feudalism, when each baron held his land by force
of arms, castles were built upon rocky heights. Armed bands
defended these castles and also over-awed the surrounding
territory. Around these castles people, settled for the sake
of protection — other people than the knights, retainers, and
vassals of the baron; as a result cities sprang up. Europe
is full of such castles and cities. Also during the Middle
Ages there arose cities along trade routes, as on the Danube,
for the purpose of commerce; they became trade and com-
mercial centers. Such cities as Budapest, Vienna, Munich,
Frankfort, Cologne, Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Ghent, Hamburg,
Bremen, and the Italian cities of Florence, Genoa, Pisa, and
Venice are examples of the cities of this type. The city in
the modern form is chiefly an industrial or commercial city
and did not come into existence to any appreciable extent
until the industrial revolution. Thus the present-day city is a

108

URBAN MIGRATION 109

»

product of industrial development. The great cities of Europe
have had their most rapid growth since the industrial
revolution, altho their history goes back many centuries before
that time; the amount of increase during the nineteenth cen-
tury is shown by the following table:

City — Population 1800 Population 1901

London 864,000 4,536,000'

Paris 547,000 2,714,000

Berlin 172,000 1,888,000

Vienna 232,000 1,674,000

The great increase in urban population as compared with
rural growth did not develop so early in the United States
as in Europe, because the United States remained longer
an agricultural country. Towards the close of the nine-
teenth century we awoke to a realization of this tendency,
and many students of the question have become alarmed;
in fact, some even call it our most serious social problem
today. This alarm over urban migration is by no means
a new thing as far as history is concerned; it is merely new
with us because we are a young nation and a new country.
Xenophon in his time bewailed a similar movement and pre-
dicted calamity; Varro did the same; and at different times
European statesmen, especially those of France, have been
aroused by the same phenomenon. Yet the fact that similar
movements and consequent fears have existed heretofore does
not minimize the fact that this migration is a very serious
matter for the United States.

In 1800 there were in the United States only five cities
with a population of over 10,000, and they contained 5.8 per
cent of the population of the country. In 1900 there were
447 such cities, and they contained 32 per cent of the coun-
try's population; and in 1910 the figures had increased to
603 and 37 per cent respectively. While the rural popula-
tion increased only 5.8 per cent from 1900 to 1910, the urban
population had increased 34.8 per cent.2 During this same
period the most rapid growth was in places of from 50,000
to 250,000 population. One thing which adds to the seri-
ousness of the problem is the fact that this increase is not
scattered over the entire country, but is confined largely to
a few sections of the country, especially the New England and
Middle Atlantic states, which are already overcrowded, and

Greater London 6,581,000.

"Places of 2500 or over are classed here by the U. S. Census Bureau as urban.

1 10 INTRODUCTION TO THK PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

(he North Central states, which in the past have been chiefly
ultural- in fact, our leading agricultural states — but are
brcc.minR urban. In 1910 the five states of New York,
IVnnsylvania. Massachusetts, Illinois, and Ohio contained one-
half of tlu» urban population of the country. The following
^t.itrs in 1910 had over one-half of their population residing
tits or in towns of 2500 or over.

% Urban
Staff Population

Rhode Island 96.7

Massachusetts 92.8

Connecticut __ 89.7

New York _ 78.8

New Jersey 75.2

California _ — 61.8

Illinois . .61.7

% Urban
State Population

Pennsylvania 60.4

New Hampshire 59. 2

Ohio 55.9

Washington 53.0

Maine 51.4

Maryland 50.8

Colorado _ . 50.4

As compared with the most urban of European countries.

England and Wales 78.0

Scotland __ 77.0

Saxony _._ _ 60.4

Germany 57.4

France 41.0

Holland . . 40.5

We do not usually look upon the United States as thickly
populated, and as a nation it is not; yet there are a few
sections, such as Rhode Island, which are more thickly popu-
lated than almost any other political division in the world.
To get some idea of the growth of cities one has only to
travel by train from Boston to Washington, D. C., by way
of Providence, New York, Philadelphia, and Baltimore, where
for 500 miles there is a never ending chain of cities; in fact
it is difficult at times to tell where one city ends and the next
one begins.

Also from 1900 to 1910 six states — New Hampshire, Ver-
mont, Ohio, Indiana, Iowa, and Missouri, actually decreased
in rural population, and these include four great agricultural
commonwealths of the Central states.

Causes of Urban Migration. — Professor Ellwood sepa-
rates the causes of the growth of cities into two classes:
(1) general or social causes, and (2) minor or individual
causes.1 It is, however, very difficult to distinguish between
the two. The following are perhaps the leading causes for
this migration.

1. Rapid Industrial Growth of the Country. — The modern
city is largely the product of industry. The establishment

*Socioloiy and Modem Social Problems, p. 266.

URBAN MIGRATION 111

of industries has created an increased demand for labor, and
as a result laborers have flocked to the city. Not only have
they offered higher money wages than were obtainable
on the farm, but they have promised work thruout the year,
a thing which is almost impossible on the farm, because of
the dependence of farm labor upon the seasons. Not only
has this attraction pulled the farm hand from the farm, but
in a still larger way it has drawn the immigrant to the city.
In the early history of our country the farm offered greater
inducements to the immigrant, but with present high prices
for land and intricate modern methods of farming the immi-
grant can seldom go to the farm if he desires. While the
farm may offer higher real wages and greater economic returns
ultimately, it is difficult for the farm laborer or renter to
realize this fact.

2. Commercial Growth of the Country. — Similar to the
industrial development has been the commercial growth.
Present methods of industry demand wholesale offices in our
cities for selling the goods manufactured; they require also
middlemen and vast retail establishments. The result is a
demand for greater means of transportation; hence railway
centers arise. There must be more salesmen, buyers, ship-
ping clerks, railway employees — all the immense army of men
and women employed in modern business. This demand has
attracted the young and enterprising from the rural districts,
not altogether because of higher money wages, but because
of the hope of advancement and future success in business.
Altho the average person would probably do better in the
small place, the few who have the ability meet the oppor-
tunity to rise to greater heights than would have been possi-
ble in any rural community. While there are more blanks
in the lottery, the prizes are greater; while more people fail
than in the country, they are forgotten or are obscured by
the great success of a few.

3. Change in Agricultural Methods. — As the demand for
labor in the city has increased, the relative demand in the
country has decreased. The invention of new machinery,
especially modern gang plows, reapers, and binders, has
enabled one person to do the work which formerly took five
or ten men. The demand for agricultural products has con-
stantly increased, it is true, but not in proportion to the
decrease in the demand for labor. This has caused the farm
hand to migrate. No longer is there any cheap land, such

112 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

as there was in early days of the country. Land has increased
tremendously in value. Farm land in such states as Indiana,
Illin . and Missouri now costs from $100.00 to $200.00

and often more. This, coupled with the increased
cost of machinery, horses, and cattle, requires a capital of
several thousands of dollars in order to start farming. Even
if credit be obtainable, interest rates bring in an overhead
rhurge of several hundred dollars a year.' This situation
not only prevents immigrants and other laborers from going
to the farm; it even drives the farmer's sons away from the
farm. If the son is enterprising and independent, and desires
to marry and settle down, he does not care to wait until his
father dies and the old farm comes to him, or (if there are
several sons), is divided up. Also he may not only dislike
to remain at home but may even be crowded out because of
a large family. On account of these facts and the lessening
demand for labor upon the farm, many workers migrate,
who would be willing to remain upon the farm if opportun-
ities were equal. The fact that a decreasing proportion of
our population is needed upon the farm is not so serious in
itself, unless the decrease be too rapid. The seriousness
comes from the fact that the most enterprising and independ-
ent are the ones who migrate, thus leaving the less energetic
upon the farm.

4. The City Is More Alluring. — Not only from economic
but from psychic reasons the city is more attractive; in fact,
if the question should be carefully analyzed, it might show
that psychic reasons are more important than economic ones.
Among these may be mentioned:

(1). Excitement. — The spirit of adventure draws to the
city in much the same manner that the frontier attracted the
venturesome and daring in our pioneer days. Then people
left the settlements to seek fortunes across the Appalachians,
regardless of the dangers from wild beasts and Indians and
of the hardships to be endured. In a like way the city attracts
the same element today. The noise and bustle are alluring;
there are more things to be seen and heard. Life is not so
dull and monotonous as in the country. The loneliness and
isolation are supplanted by excitement and stir. While life
is harder in the city and a living more difficult to wrest
from society than in the country, opportunities for advance-
ment are more frequent if one is alert, and enthusiasm and
hope drive one on to greater efforts.

URBAN MIGRATION 113

(2). Recreation. — In former days country life was fur-
nished with recreational opportunities, such as husking, paring,
and quilting bees, log-rollings, house-raisings, spelling con-
tests, picnics, and parties; but unfortunately as these enter-
tainments became things of the past little was introduced
to take their places. On the other hand the city has fur-
nished a never ending series of amusements in the way of
baseball games, theatres, parks, museums, prize fights, wrest-
ling matches, bowling, pool halls, electric parks, and latest
moving picture shows. In this way life in the city is not
so dull as in the country. The modern generation demands
recreation, and it is only natural that the city should thus
attract.

(3). Intellectual Advantages. — The city offers not only
better schools but also more of them and a greater variety
of subjects. It offers greater advantages in the way of libra-
ries, altho exceptions should possibly be made of the New
England states, where every little town has a public library
of some kind, generally containing the world's best litera-
ture. Art galleries and natural history museums are found
only in large places. While magazines and newspapers are
obtainable in most rural places, they are not so available in
the country as in the city. The city pulpits are better sup-
plied than country churches because they can command the
best talent. This does not seem to attract much, however,
because city churches draw a smaller proportion of the popu-
lation than country churches.

(4). Superior Comforts. — Many comforts are available
to a much greater extent in the city, such as steam heat, elec-
tricity, gas, and facilities for shopping. These are especially
attractive to farmers who have made a fortune sufficient to
enable them to retire, and they appeal to the younger gen-
eration, especially to those who have traveled about some-
what or have been off to college. The city also offers more
attractive conditions of labor to both men and women. The
housewife has less work to do, and the man's working day
is several hours shorter than in the country, thus giving more
time for recreation and amusement.

( 5 ) . Class Consciousness. — There has always been a line
of discrimination drawn between the city dwellers and those
who live in the country. The farmer is more or less (at
least it has been so in the past) looked down upon as uncouth
and ignorant. The city person sneers at the small town

114 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OP1 SOCIOLOGY

,

inhabitant; this is shown in the press and in our magazines.
Our nhuational training fits especially for city life, rather
than for country life — so much so that it educates away
from the farm. We are now trying to remedy this defect,
hut in the past as soon as a person received an education
he generally migrated to the city, because he considered that
hr had outgruwn his former class. ^

(6). All Activities Center About the City. — Not only
do industry, commerce, and education center about the large
platr. but all our activities are becoming more and more
centralized in cities. Our colleges are being established in
large centers, magazines are published there, and even agri-
cultural societies generally have their central offices located
in some large city. The city is like a whirlpool or maelstrom
around which our whole life whirls, and because of this force
of attraction the city draws, or has drawn, the most efficient,
active, and energetic from the country. The whole process
is simply a condition of modern times.

Forces Operating Against This Migration. — Against
these causes new forces are setting in to counterbalance this
migration. The automobile is doing wonders in making farm
life more attractive and in putting it into close touch with the
rest of the world. The rural free delivery of mail, parcels
post, and rural telephones have all done their share in this
direction, but the automobile possibly surpasses them all.
Good roads are being built in all sections of the country,
largely as a result of the coming of the automobile. As we
shall see later better schools are being constructed and more
useful methods of instruction introduced. The recently estab-
lished system of government credits promises much in enab-
ling young men to get started in farming.

Probably the great force of all is the increased prosperity
of the farmer during the past few years. Prices obtained
for farm products have soared recently, and not only promise
not to decline but give every indication of going still higher
—recent war prices being excepted. All this means more
money for the farmer, and consequently promises greater com-
forts, more labor saving machinery, more books, magazines,
automobiles, phonographs, pianos, better education for his
children and in some cases even some of the luxuries of life.
During the past few years the successful farmers have pros-
pered enormously; in fact, today the farmer is the best sit-
uated individual in society, and the future bids fair to do

URBAN MIGRATION 115

even better by him than the past. He is able not only to
get higher prices but to market more of his products and
to keep in better touch with prices and market conditions
than formerly. Our agricultural colleges and experiment sta-
tions have done much in instructing farmers how to get the
largest returns from their farms. Co-operation is the greatest
hope of the future in winning a larger share of return to
the producer. Co-operative methods have been successful in
parts of Europe in the marketing of farm products, especially
butter, bacon, cheese, and eggs. In Denmark co-operation
has turned a poor country into one of the most prosperous
lands in the world. The idea is being introduced into the
United States and wherever tried among farmers for the mar-
keting of products has almost invariably met with splendid
success. This is particularly true in regard to the managing
of grain elevators, the selling of milk and creamery products,
and the marketing of fruits (as illustrated by the California
Fruit Growers Association) ; as a result, co-operation is now
being rapidly adopted in the marketing of all manner of
farm products. This, coupled with scientific farming, will
make the farmer financially prosperous and as a result many
of the causes of urban migration will disappear. Farming is
no longer looked upon as a haphazard business, which any
person, no matter whether he has the ability to do anything
else or not, can do. Instead it is being considered as a busi-
ness which requires modern business methods and scientific
management; and as a result these methods are being applied.
The farm is regarded no longer as a place for the ne'er-do-
wells but for the most energetic and enterprising, and it is
attracting the latter class because of the chance of increased
prosperity. The ideal condition has not been reached at
present by any means, and there are still many rural prob-
lems, some of which we shall now consider.

Problems of the Country. — Rural problems are not
glaring and sensational like some of the problems which we
find in cities, such as child labor and immorality. Condi-
tions are not so bad as in our city slums. We find in the
country no tenement houses, sweatshops, or bad sanitary con-
ditions, which are often found in cities. Poverty, while often
present, never has the pitiful features of poverty in cities for
the simple reason that the farmer produces his own food and
hence generally has sufficient to prevent hunger. Fuel is
usually obtainable; so few suffer from cold. The spirit of

116 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

neighborliness has not disappeared in rural sections and the
needy are cared for. In the city unemployment means desti-
tution because the income stops. In the country one is ordi-
narily his own employer; even if one is dependent upon daily
labor, suffering is never as keen. Crime is infrequent in
tin- muntry because of lack of temptation or opportunity to
•nit it; if a person does comjnit a crime he generally
goes to the city to avoid detection. The small town, however,
produces its full share of the vicious and criminal, but these
people often do not remain there, altho some small towns
l>e found which are veritable hot-beds of vice and crime.
On the whole the country is a more healthful place in which
to live, but it is by no means as healthful as it should be.
The country should — and could — be the most attractive place
in which to live, not only the most healthful and most profita-
ble, but also the pleasantest, and most comfortable; unfor-
tunately it often falls far short of this. The sins of the
country are ones of omission, rather than of commission. The
farmer is essentially a middle class person, if we can safely
mention anybody as belonging to such a class. We should
not expect him to be polished in manners or as neat in dress,
as careful about his language or as highly educated, as the
lawyer or banker, for illustration; or to become as wealthy
as our capitalists; but he often falls below middle class
standards. The rural problem is by no means a matter of
charity but of education, of thot stimulation. A few phases
of it, however, need our attention.

1. The Country School. — In general country schools are
not the equal of town schools. Not only is the equipment
poorer but the teachers are frequently inexperienced or poorly
prepared for their work. They receive poor pay, often very
insignificant salaries, which of course do not attract those who
are capable: hence country schools are usually taught by
those lacking experience or by those unable to obtain posi-
tions in town schools. While the school buildings were once
considered adequate they are far too often dilapidated now,
and too frequently are poorly planned in regard to ventila-
tion, lighting, and sanitation. On the average, school terms
are shorter by several days or weeks than terms in cities.
Then one of the most serious defects is that the country
teacher is generally burdened with too many classes, often
having all the grades, and so is unable to give proper atten-
tion to any of them. There are frequently too few students

URBAN MIGRATION 117

in the school to give the proper stimulation and rivalry, espe-
cially in the upper classes, which sometimes have only one or
two students in them. Then there are many rural schools
with too few pupils to provide any sort of give and take
between the pupils or even to permit organized play of any
kind, thousands of schools in the country having no more
than six pupils. Consolidation of schools offers a solution
for many of these evils, furnishing larger classes, more and
better teachers; the grades are thus able to be divided. It
does not solve all the difficulties, but if properly handled goes
a long way towards the solution of some. The old time coun-
try school, however, is a thing of the past, because the con-
ditions of the past will not return; the country school of
the future must meet the conditions of tomorrow. In the
past the schoolhouse was used as a social center but it has
of recent years not been so used. The entertainments of
the years past have been outgrown and few new ones have
taken their place. The school property can be used as a
social center, where entertainments, such as moving picture
shows, fairs, and track meets can be held, and where clubs
can meet; and in this way country life may be made more
interesting and helpful. The curriculum of the school does
not always give the rural student the proper training needed
for life, as it is too often designed to fit for the high school,
which in turn fits for college; thus the child is educated away
from the farm instead of for the farm. The study of scien-
tific agriculture has been introduced into rural schools, but,
because of inexperienced teachers is generally poorly taught.
Agricultural high schools are now being introduced, they are
however, as yet very few in number. Their aim is to prepare
those who intend to follow farming for their lifework and to
give them training which will be of use to them in after life.
The education furnished by our agricultural colleges is steadily
improving and is being made use of more and more, it is
doing the farmer a great service. The country school is
slowly being improved but before it can be made what it
should be there is need of an entire change of sentiment in
most communities in regard to the importance of education
for the farmer; a strong desire to improve the rural school
must be created.

2. The Country Church. — The country church does not
play the part in the life of the rural community, that it for-
merly did; because it, like the rural school, has not adapted

118 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES Of SOCIOLOGY

itself to new conditions. It has been hard hit by the migra-
tion to the city of the most enterprising, because it has thus
lost its leaders. Salaries are low and as a result the ministers
are poor, being either theological students or old, broken-
down ministers; of course, neither kind is able to stimulate
the community and inject new life into it. Generally rural
communities are over-supplied in regard to buildings and
church organizations, but the churches are starved in regard
to attendance and contributions. Many argue there is as
great a need of consolidation of churches as of schools but
reform of this kind has not as yet met with the success that
has greeted school consolidation, because of sectarian-
ism; there have been, however, some successes in this line,
and in the future greater progress can be expected.
The country church is not the social center that it ought
to be, and in order to take the place which it should hold in
the community the rural church must attain to more impor-
tance in the social life of the community. This is being
done in a few neighborhoods but needs extension in order
to permit the rural church to function as it should. In many
ways the church is much better fitted for this work than the
school, altho in some respects it is handicapped. The coun-
try church needs better pastors, but in order to attract them
it must be willing — for many churches are able — to pay sal-
aries sufficient to guarantee a living wage for a competent
pastor located in the community, and not depend upon stu-
dents to supply one or two Sundays in the month. What
the country church needs is new life; with the most energetic
people going to the city it is difficult at present to give it
this life. But with the returning prosperity to the farm,
this may become much easier. At present, tho, the country
church offers quite a problem for the rural community to
solve.

3. Recreation. — The lack of recreation is quite a serious
matter for the country and an important cause of urban migra-
tion. When the sports and entertainments of colonial and
pioneer days were out-grown, new ones did not come to take
their place, at least not in sufficient numbers to fill the need.
Consequently country life has too frequently become dull
and uninteresting; it has degenerated into either dull drudgery
or a sordid race for wealth. This condition has had a depress-
ing effect upon the younger generation and as a result the
best have too frequently left the farm. The country

URBAN MIGRATION 119

Y. M. C. A. and the Camp Fire organizations are doing much
to meet this need. The automobile enables people to get
away from home but too often makes them prefer to remain
in the city for social life and entertainment. As suggested
before, the parcels post, telephone, and rural free delivery
of mail are making country life less isolated and lonesome.
Rural social centers probably offer the best remedy for this
situation, and with increased financial prosperity the country
will find ways to overcome this now important rural difficulty.
4. Wasteful Methods. — One of the greatest detriments
to farming today is the lack of application of business
methods. There is a tremendous waste and leakage. The
farm is not made to contribute by any means what it is capa-
ble of doing. Yields per acre for all sections of the country
are far below what they should be, largely because of the
failure on the part of farmers to make use of modern methods
of agriculture. Farmers are, however, losing their distrust
of "new-fangled" methods and "book farming", and are learn-
ing that agricultural colleges and experiment stations are able
to give them much help. Lecturers and exhibition trains sent
out by the government are now made use of by the farmers,
whereas at first they were scoffed at. As has been suggested,
the farmer in the past failed to realize from his farm products
as he should have realized, because middlemen took too large
a share; now by means of organization he is rapidly learning
to get his share and to reduce the middlemen's profits to
their proper amount. But wasteful methods are still found
upon the farm. One has only to travel thru almost any farm-
ing section to see valuable farm machinery rusting in the
fields, even expensive binders, mowing machines, and plows
— left where they were last used. This is pure waste, and
somebody has to pay for this added cost of farming. Ameri-
can farmers are criticized for allowing land to go to waste
by never cultivating corners and by using unproductively large
amounts of land. This is largely owing to the fact that the
average farmer, especially in the western states, has more land
than he can effectively farm. We cannot blame him for buy-
ing up all the land that he can because of the probability
of its increasing in value and the profit resulting to the
farmer on his investment, but from a national standpoint
the practice is wasteful. From time to time we hear a great
deal about tenant farmers, absentee owners who rent their
farms, and the fact that renters, having no permanent interest

120 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

in the farm, allow it to run down, and also work the so-called
••skinnimi" method, thus mining the soil and robbing it of its
natural richness and needed chemical vitality. Much of our
soil, especially in the East has worn out in the past by just
-iuh methods, but farmers are now generally becoming
acquaint nl with methods of replenishing the elements in the
soil by proper rotation of crops, and the use of fertilizers,
but renters will not use these methods unless compelled to
do so; neither will shiftless and shortsighted farmers. This
phase of the problem is possibly receiving more attention
than many others and, because it seriously affects the pocket-
book of the owner, has caused him to pay attention to it.
Our farming in the past has been too extensive; it will be
only a question of time until more intensive methods must
be used, in order that this country can support the popula-
tion which it is destined to have within a few decades. The
problem of waste is one which only education can solve.
Systems of farm accounting are now helping the farmer find
out where his waste is.

Other phases of the rural problem might be mentioned
but these just discussed are probably the most serious. The
whole situation is one of isolation, as opposed to the problem
of congestion, which we shall encounter next when we take
up the city problem. While city problems have been before
us for decades, in fact some of them for centuries, the rural
problem is one that has attracted our attention only recently
and that therefore has not had the remedial measures applied
to it that have been put into use in dealing with the problem
of the city. While perhaps more serious just now than the
city problem, because of lack of attention, it in all proba-
bility will more easily lend itself to solution. But at present
it cannot be ignored.

Problems of the City. — Not only has migration to the
city caused a problem in the country by reason of the immi-
gration of the most energetic, but the immigration into the
city has created there a problem of congestion. This migra-
tion from rural districts to the city has been supplemented,
as we have seen by the tide of immigration, in addition to
the natural growth in population of the city itself. Gillette
estimates the growth in population of American cities as being,
owing as follows to immigration, 41 per cent; to rural migra-
tion, 29.8 per cent; to natural increase, 21.6 per cent; to the

URBAN MIGRATION 121

incorporation of new territory, 7.6 per cent.1 This conges-
tion of population has brot in many problems, many of which
are just the opposite of those we have just studied. Some
of them are the following:

1. Transportation. — Even the use of city streets has
become a problem. Traffic regulations are necessary, not only
at street corners in the direction of traffic but also in the
use of the street for surface cars, and the prohibiting the
use of certain vehicles on certain streets, and in some of our
older cities, such as Boston, the designation of certain streets
as "one way" streets. The transportation of people to and
from work, as well as the handling of Chopping crowds, is
a tremendous problem, entirely too large in most of our
great cities for the street railway systems to handle, and
requires the addition of elevated or subway lines, and often
both, to handle the traffic, to say nothing of the use of sub-
urban trains on the steam lines, which in many places, espe-
cially Boston, handle a large share of the business. Other
phases of the transportation problem • are the building and
use of both passenger and freight terminals, costing vast sums
because of the value of city real estate. The Grand Central
and Pennsylvania passenger stations in New York City with
their approaches, cost the New York Central and Pennsylvania
systems over $250,000,000. While these are our most expen-
sive stations, the establishment of proper terminals in all
cities is a problem involving tremendous expense and much
engineering skill. Because of their monopoly of the busi-
ness, street railways bring in problems in regard to the grant-
ing of franchises and their regulation and control for the sake
of public proper service. This problem of transportation leads
to many other problems, such as high rent and housing sit-
uations.

2. Municipal Government. — The government of cities
themselves is a very difficult matter and one in which Ameri-
can cities are notorious for. their failings, to such an extent
indeed that American municipal government is often referred
to as one of the worst forms of government to be found in
civilized nations. City government in this country has been
notorious for its graft; in fact it has been so bad in most
cities that many voters have given up in disgust and look
upon any change in administration as simply the pushing 'out

1Gillette, John M., Constructive Rural Sociology, p. 86.

122 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

of one band of grafters by another fully as bad, and unfor-
tunately they often seem to be correct. Many cities are rem-
nlyini; this situation by the adoption of the commission form
of government thereby centralizing responsibility, the lack
.»!' which is a great weakness in most city governments. City
managers an- also being introduced, especially in the smaller
cities, in order to install business methods in city affairs.
Both of these plans have improved the situation but there
•ill room for more improvements. The greater use of
civil service rules often helps, altho recently a city adminis-
tration in Chicago ignored those holding office under the civil
sen-ice laws and deposed them the same as other officials
in order to make room for the new crowd of friends and fol-
lowers. The government of cities at best is a difficult prob-
lem, even when the administration attempts really to serve
the people, but when politicians make use of their offices for
their own benefit, the difficulty is greatly intensified; hence
our failure in the past.

3. Health. — Formerly the death rates of cities were
extremely high, and while this condition has been overcome
and the death rate greatly reduced, and in fact, in some cities
brot down to normal, on the average the death rate for cities
is still considerably above that of rural communitjes. The
congestion of population' naturally increases the liability to
contagious diseases, especially in the public schools. The
danger from accident is great because of the rush and bustle
of city life. Hence the care of the sick and injured is gen-
erally a large task and requires more attention than in the
country. Private hospitals are unable to deal with the prob-
lem because of the poverty of many people; medical care
has to be supplemented by municipal hospitals and dispen-
saries, by the institution of visiting nurses and medical inspec-
tion in schools, and by the establishment of free clinics. The
question of food is a greater health problem than in the coun-
try, especially in regard to milk and vegetables, because nearly
all the food consumed in cities must be imported from the
country and requires careful inspection not only as to the
packing and transportation, but also in regard to the selling
of it, in order that the sale of decayed and impure foods may
be prevented. This matter has been given widespread atten-
tion and in many places is very effectively handled. The
water supply is also a matter for serious consideration, the
water often being brot hundreds of miles at the cost of mil-

URBAN MIGRATION 123

lions of dollars. Unless a pure source is thus tapped the
drinking water has to be filtered by the city — a process which
is both difficult and expensive. The disposal of wastes, espe-
cially garbage, street sweepings and sewerage, is often a vast
problem, even at times baffling experts because of the nature
of the location of the city. The cleaning of the streets is
also a job which requires much expense and constant work.
The whole question of sanitation for a city is a mammoth
one, but fortunately one which is now being given a great
deal of attention, the results of which are generally very
beneficial. Even flies and rats attract the notice of boards
of health and are fought by them. Because of the scarcity
of land there has been a premium upon housing space; hence
there has crept into our cities extremely unsanitary and
unhealthful tenements, particularly those of the old "dumb-
bell" type. Modern building codes, when properly enforced,
protect the city against this evil. The city is troubled with
many unhealthful occupations and with many unwholesome
working conditions; these are constant menaces to the health
of the dwellers in all our cities. The whole health situation
in a city is a very grave one but during the past few years
it has had a great deal of heed paid to it and will have still
more in the future. Even now in some respects the city is
more healthful than the country because of this careful inspec-
tion and oversight.

4. Protection. — As we shall see in our study of social
maladjustment, crime and vice, like poverty, are more prev-
alent in cities, because of greater opportunity and temptation.
Therefore more careful protection both of lives and of prop-
erty on the part of police is demanded. Our city police forces
are generally so huge, so vitally connected with life, and
brot into such close contact with crime and politics that they
themselves very frequently become corrupt and inefficient.
But the very organization of police forces is a big task. Pro-
tection must be given the public on every street corner by
traffic policemen; criminals must be run down; and the public
in general must be protected and aided. The danger from
fire is great and all of our cities have expensive and efficient
fire departments. The labor problem is more difficult in the
city than in the country and often property and lives have
to be protected from violence in the case of any labor dis-
turbance involving public service corporations, such as street
railways. Vice in a regrettable amount exists in every city.

124 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES Of SOCIOLOGY

Inu-mperance used to be greater in cities and the regula-
tion of the liquor business was always difficult and a source
of much crime, poverty, and corruption. Even the adminis-
tration of justice is hindered because of the number of cases
requiring special courts, such as juvenile and domestic rela-
irts. City jails are also necessary to house those
rotivirh'd of minor crimes. It is on the whole by no means
a small undertaking to protect the lives, property, health, and
morals of the inhabitants of a large city.

5. Education. — The city as well as the country has its
educational problem, only it is occasioned by having too
many children to care for, rather than too few. The number
is often so great that the capacity of school buildings is inad-
equate; it increases faster than the city is able to provide
facilities for accommodating the children. Sometimes half-
day sessions are. necessary. The Gary system of rotation of
classes, thus making use of all the school facilities all the
time, is the best method devised so far for handling the situa-
tion. An attendant evil has been the development of too
much machinery and too arbitrary a system of education,
putting thereby all sorts of children thru the same process.
A remedy is found in special grouping of different kinds of
pupils, such as classes for the dull, the precocious, the truant,
and the physically defective. The school system has not
always fitted for life, but now special schools, particularly
trade schools are established in order to add to the useful-
ness of the system. It is an arduous undertaking to run the
schools of any large city, to hire efficient teachers, maintain
discipline, provide proper equipment, supervise sanitation, and
to do all this upon the amount of money appropriated by
the city. All these difficulties are by no means insurmount-
able; in fact they are usually handled with some degree of
efficiency; they are, however problems which will never be
completely solved, because new conditions will constantly be
arising. Hence the educational phase of any growing city
will always require attention.

6. Recreation. — The city also has its recreation prob-
lem; it is not so much the lack of means of recreation as
in the country, but the placing within the reach of all, oppor-
tunities for healthful recreation and wholesome pleasure. It
means the control and regulation of the commercialized forms
of amusement, such as theatres, dance halls, pool halls, and
bowling alleys; the construction of suitable playgrounds for

URBAN MIGRATION 125

the children of the crowded districts; and the providing of
public parks, art galleries, bathing beaches, public baths, and
social centers. The problem is two-fold; to prevent ques-
tionable and degrading sorts of recreation, and to stimulate
and provide opportunities for healthful and uplifting forms.
It is a question of quality rather than of quantity.

7. Municipal Ownership and Control. — Public service
industries, with the growth of cities, have become institutions
of much importance, especially those responsible for systems
of lighting, gas works, street railways, and the handling of
food, ice, and coal. There seem to be two better methods
of managing these enterprises than unrestricted private own-
ership, which often does not work for the best interests of
the public, and these are control by the city and owner-
ship by the city. Control is generally the first step but it
often leads to ownership. Various arguments can be advanced
in favor of each of these methods; choice between them
depends largely upon the place and conditions, but the tend-
ency seems to be towards the ownership on the part of the
city of those industries which are vital to the public and
which are of such a nature as are apt to become monopolized.
Street railways, subways, and heating and lighting plants
have been acquired in much the same way that the owner-
ship of waterworks and sewerage systems has been taken over
by cities. This practice can only come in slowly because
of the inexperience of the American people in the govern-
mental management of industries and because of the attitude
towards public position ordinarily shown in this country; but
there seems to be some movement in this direction.

8. City Planning. — At first cities "simply grew" without
much idea of a plan; but because they did not always grow
in a manner beneficial to succeeding generations and because
there arose populations several times the wildest dreams of
the founders, it$is now being realized that a city should be
planned for the" future, not only in regard to streets, rail-
roads, and public buildings but also in regard to practically
all the industries of the city. Not only is this being carried
out to some extent in most cities as they look towards future
growth, but attempts are being made to rectify the mistakes
of the past. It is, howeve^ extremely difficult to make any
kind of accurate guess in regard to the future development
and growth of any certain city. Some have a steady growth,

126 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

iitlu-rs nmw by fits and starts, still others do not grow at
all. and a few decline in population and importance.

The whole matter of urban migration, while important as
a present day condition and one which certainly needs the
attention of society, is by no means hopeless. Society needs
only to remedy the bad features brot in by it, such as the
problems indicated above. It is simply a natural condition,
a phase of the evolution of society; it is merely a part of
the world movement of populations.

READING REFERENCES

On the Rural Problem —

VocT, P. L., Introduction to Rural Sociology.

GILLETTE, J. M., Constructive Rural Sociology.

GALPIN, C. J., Rural Life.

CARNEY, MABEL, Country Life and the Rural School.

ARP, J. B., Rural Education, and the Consolidated School.

CARVER, T. N., Principles of Rural Economics.

CARVER, T. N., Selected Readings in Rural Economics.

BAILEY, L. H., The Country Life Movement.

PLUNKETT, SIR HORACE, The Rural Life Problem in the United States.

BUTTERFIELD, K. L., Chapters in Rural Progress.

BUTTERTIELD, K. L., The Country Church and the Rural Problem.

COULTER, J. L., Co-operation Among Farmers.

CURTIS, H. S., Play and Recreation for the Open Country.

CUBBERLY, E. P., Rural Life and Education.

CUBBERLY, E. P., The Improvement of Rural Schools.

FOGHT, H. W., The American Rural School.

FARWELL, P. T., Village Improvement.

EARP, E. L., Rural Church Serving the Community.

HAGGARD, H. RIDER, Rural Denmark and Its Lessons.

Report of the Country Life Commission.

Publications of the American Sociological Society, Vol. XI, "The

Sociology of Rural Life".

WILSON, W. H., The Evolution of the Country Community.
WILSON, W. H., The Church of the Open Country.
On the City Problem —

MUNRO, W. B., The Government of American Cities.

MUNRO, W. B., Principles and Methods of Municipal Administration.

MUNRO, W. B., The Government of European Cities.

ZrEBLiN, CHARLES, American Municipal Progress".

POLLOCK, H. M. AND MORGAN, W. S., Modern Cities.

HOWE, F. C., The Modern City and Its Problems.

HOWE, F. C., European Cities at Work.

HOWE, F. C., The City, the Hope of Democracy.

WEBER, A. F., The Growth of Cities in the Nineteenth Century.

Wnxox, D. F., The American City.

STRONG, J., The Challenge of the City.

ROWE, L. S., Problems of City Government.

FAIRLEE, J. A., Municipal Administration.

CHAPTER VIII
THE AMERICAN RACE PROBLEM

The negro problem in the United States furnishes us an
example of race friction, but it will be treated at greater
length than it deserves as an illustration, because of its seri-
ousness as an American problem. Race hatred seems to be
almost innate. We consider the yellow race inferior to the
white; the yellow race has the same attitude towards the
white. The English look down upon the Hindoos ; the Hindoos
despise the English. Every race thinks itself the superior
race; each nation looks upon its country and people as the
best; every state does likewise, and each person in every
state considers his town the best place in which to live. Tho
there are exceptions, this principle is almost universal.

When two races or peoples come into contact there is fric-
tion and generally war. The result is that one is forced to
give in to the other. It has been said that every race which
has opposed the white race has been defeated; that the white
race has broken them all. When .the white man has come
into contact with the red man, the red man has been almost
annihilated, and in fact in many places actually exterminated.
When the white man has come into contact with the yellow
man, the yellow man, with some exceptions, such as are
found in the recent history of Japan, has either retreated
or given up his land. When the black race has come into
contact with the white, the black has succumbed; instead
of being completely broken, however he has bent, becoming
the servant or slave of the white man. This is true, not only
in America, but in almost all parts of the world, including
most of the parts of Africa, into which white men have gone
in any considerable numbers. Even when outnumbered by
the blacks twenty or even one hundred to one, the whites
have come out victorious because of their superiority; their
greater advance -in civilization and the arts; their greater
will power, courage, ambition, and ingenuity.

127

128 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

Increase of Negro Population in the United States.

— Before we go any further we must get our bearings by
nling the size of negro population, the rate of increase,
the percentage of mulattos, the distribution in the states in
\\hidi they are to be found, in ordlfr better to consider the
subject. The first negroes were brot to this country by the
Dutch in 1619, when a cargo of twenty was landed at James-
town, Virginia, and sold as slaves to the planters. From that
time until January 1, 1809, when the importation of slaves
was prohibited by Congress, slaves were imported into the
I'nited States in varying numbers, thus adding to the natural
increase among those already here. No reliable records are
available till 1790, when our first census was taken, but from
that time the negro population has increased as follows:

Per Cent of

Census Year Negro Population Total Population

1700 757,208 19.3

1800 1,002,037 18.9

1810 1,377,808 19.0

1820 1,771,656 18.4

1830 2,328,642 18.1

1840 2,873,648 16.8

1850 3,630,808 15.7

1860 4,441,830 14.1

1870* 5,392,172 13.5

1880 6,580,793 13.1

1890 7,488,676 11.9

1900 8,833,994 11.6

1910 9,827,763 10.7

These statistics show that while the negro population has
increased rapidly, it has not increased so rapidly as the
white population; hence it has steadily become a smaller
element in our total population. How much this decrease
is owing to immigration and how much to the higher mor-
tality of the negro we do not know. In all probability both
are responsible. When we take a glance at the location of
the negro we find that he for the most part still remains in
the Southern states where slavery formerly flourished and
that even there he is not holding his own with the white.
So while the negro has a much higher birth-rate than the
white his higher death-rate more than makes up for it; this
is evident, for the Southern states have received practically
no foreign immigration and few settlers from the Northern
states.

•For 1870 corrected figures are used instead of those enumerated.

THE AMERICAN RACE PROBLEM 129

Nearly 90 per cent of the negro population is found in
the Southern states, which formerly allowed slavery, and over
80 per cent in the eleven states, which contain that strip
of counties stretching from Virginia to Texas, which is known
as the "Black Belt". The percentage of negroes to the total
population of the fifteen former slave-holding states for the
years 1860, 1900, and 1910 are as follows:

States — Per Cent of Total Population

1860 1900 1910

Alabama 45.4 43.2 42.5

Arkansas , 25.6 28.0 28.1

Delaware 19.3 16.6 15.4

Florida 44.6 43.6 41.0

Georgia 44.0 46.7 45.1

Kentucky 20.4 13.3 11.4

Louisiana 49.5 47.1 43.1

Maryland 24.9 19.8 17.9

Mississippi 55.3 55.5 56.2

Missouri 10.0 5.0 4.8

North Carolina *36.4 33.0 31 6

South Carolina 58.6 58.4 55.2

Tennessee 25.5 23.8 21.7

Texas 30.3 20.4 17.7

Virginia 42.0 35.7 > 32.6

Only three states, Arkansas, Georgia, and Mississippi, show
an increase in the ratio of black to white, while for the
entire fifteen there is a decided decrease. However, the
negroes seem to be growing relatively more numerous in the
cotton belt along the Mississippi river. There are some coun-
ties in this region in which the negro far outnumbers the
white; for example, Issequena County, Mississippi, has a pop-
ulation consisting of 10,560 negroes and 611 whites — 94.1
per cent negro; Tensas County, Louisiana, has 15,613 negroes
and 1,446 whites — 91.5 per cent negro; and Tunica County,
Mississippi, has 16,910 negroes and 1,728 whites— 90.7 per
cent negro. In 1860 the negroes equalled or exceeded the
whites in 244 counties; in 1910 there were 263 such coun-
ties, 187 of which were in the first list. While there has
been some change, the region having the densest black popu-
lation has remained almost the same; i.e., a strip up the
Mississippi as far north as Memphis, Tennessee; another strip
across Central Alabama, Georgia, nearly all of South Carolina,
and a small patch in southern Virginia.

Urban vs. Rural Population. — The following table will
show for the year 1910 the relative number and percentages

(D)

130 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

of negroes dwelling in urban and rural districts in the differ-
^•ographical divisions of the United States:1

Per Cent Negro

Gtotraphical
ion
t'nitixl States

Negro PC
Rural
7,138,534

'piiliitinn
Urban
2,689,229
60,877
339,246
230,542
164,301
909,520
509,097
435,838
15,446
24,362

Population
Rural Urban
72.6 27.4
8.2 91.8
18.8 81.2
23.4 76.6
32.3 67.7
77.9 22.1
80.8 19.2
78.0 22.0
28.0 72.0
16.6 83.4

New England -__

S.43Q

le Atlantic

78,624

East North Central

70,294

West North Central

78,361

South Atlantic

3,202,968

East South Central

2,143,416

West South Central

1,548,588

Mountain

6,021

I'.ic ft

4,833

In 1910 there were only four cities of over 25,000 popu-
lation with at least one-half of the population negro. These
were Charleston, South Carolina, 52.8 per cent; Savannah,
Georgia, 51.1 per cent; Jacksonville, Florida, 50.8 per cent,
and Montgomery, Alabama, 50.6 per cent; in none of these
is the population over 65,000. Among the more populous
cities the following show the greatest ratio of negroes: Mem-
phis, 40 per cent; Birmingham, 39.4 per cent; Richmond,
36.5 per cent; Atlanta, 33.5 per cent; Nashville, 33.1 per
cent; Washington, 28.5 per cent, and New Orleans, 26.3 per
cent. In the North the negro has gone to the cities, where
he has been compelled to occupy the poorest parts since he
is able to obtain employment at only the most menial tasks.
Thus because of the demoralizing environment he has created
quite a problem in the Northern city. In the South the
negro has not rushed to the cities but has remained in about
an unvarying proportion on the farms. Altho many have
moved to small towns there has been no great amount of
urban migration. Thru a long period of years, there has
been for the nation a slight decrease; but in recent years
there is noticed an opposite tendency, the proportion increas-
ing from 2.8 per cent for the decade 1890 to 1900 to 4.7
per cent for the decade 1900 to 1910.

Increase and Distribution of Blacks and Mulattoes.

— Under "black" the census enumerators have been instructed

to include all who were evidently full-blood negroes, and

under "mulatto" those apparently having white blood; in

the census for 1890 an attempt was made to classify as

Year Book for 1916-1917, p. 373.

AMERICAN RACE; PROBLEM 131

"black" those having three-fourths or more negro blood and
to classify others as "mulattoes", "quadroons", or "octoroons";
this made, however, little actual difference in enumeration.
The distribution of blacks and mulattoes is shown bv the
following table.1

PERCENTAGE OF BLACKS AND MULATTOES BY GEOGRAPHIC DIVISIONS

1'.

110

18

90

J^

!7fl

Geographic Division

Black

Mulatto

Black

Mulatto

B/acJfe

/ ty

Mulatto

United States

79 1

20.9

QA a

1 < 7

QQ f\

New England _ _

66 6

33.4

OT-.O
A7 7

lj.£

79 7

Oo.U

71 A

12.0

Middle Atlantic

804

19.6

U / .J

78.6

o£ . I
71 4

/1. 4
or i

28.6

i A n

East North Central

66.8

33.2

62.8

£ i .H
37.2

OJ .1

70.8

14.V
29.2

West North Central

71.3

28.7

74.7

25.3

84.0

16.0

South Atlantic

792

20.8

86.6

174.

C.O 4

i r\ A

East South Central
West South Central

80:9
79.9

19.1
20.1

86.4
85.5

U .*T

13.6
15.5

oV.^

£8.9
86.9

1U.O

11.1

13.1

Mountain

714

28.6

64. 3

7t 7

An A

?r\ A

Pacific .

65.3

34.7

U*T,O

57 7

oo . /
A.? 7

oy.o

A9 7

30.4

77 7

This table shows us two things: that the percentage of
mulattoes is increasing and that where there are the fewest
negroes the percentage of mulattoes is the highest. The fact
that there are more mulattoes in the Northern and Western
states in proportion to the number of negroes shows in all
probability that it is the mulatto who is restless and who
often goes away from home; because he has white blood in
his veins he resents his position of social inferiority the more
and tries to get away from it. It is the mulatto who gen-
erally goes to Northern colleges and gets positions in the
North; this is because he has more enterprise and dares to
venture away from home. The serious feature of this sit-
uation is the increase in the ratio mulatto to black.

There is at present no probability that the negro will catch
up in population with the white. If there is any danger at
all it is in regard to the increase in number of the mulatto
and his recent rush to the city.

Influence of Past History Upon the Negro In study-
ing the negro we must take into consideration his past history,
not only in America during the period of slavery but also
in Africa for thousands of years before he came here. Whether
or not the negro differed from other races before he migrated
to Africa is not known, but in all probability he did not
differ materially from the other inhabitants of Asia Minor.

Year Book, 1916-1917, p. 366.

132 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OP SOCIOLOGY

The theory is often favored and as frequently denied that
the negro owes his dark skin and woolly hair to the effect
of the heat of the sun, the heat producing the pigment, which
i i uses the color, to develop under the skin and the hair to
rurl. Another explanation — and a more plausible one — is
that those who had the pigment withstood the heat of the
-<un Ix-tter than the persons who were not so protected and
thus they survived and increased, while the less protected
ones died out; consequently the pigment was thru natural
selection universally developed among negroes. A similar
explanation is advanced as to the other characteristics of the
negro; that for example those had a high birth-rate survived
while those who did not perished, the reason being that a
high birth-rate was necessary to withstand the high death-rate
caused by the climate and the ravages of wild beasts. Those
who had large families were those who married early; those
groups who treated the women and children well were apt
to survive. This tended to develop the strong family affec-
tion that exists in the negro and to bring about early mar-
riages and large families. The docility of the negro, his
easy-going attitude towards life, and his laziness and indiffer-
ence to the future are likewise owing to natural selection,
for those who were inclined to be nervous and excitable,
who took life too seriously, were unable to survive the hot
climate; those who took things easy did survive. The negro
had no cause for worry as to his food supply; nature, while
hard on him in regard to disease and wild beasts, was an
abundant provider. Food was plentiful on every hand; so
there was no incentive to provide for the future or even to
work hard. There was no need of much clothing, merely
enuf for ornament and for satisfying the claims of modesty
— which did not demand much. The same was true of shel-
ter; no great provision had to be made, only protection from
rain and beasts being necessary. In short his life tended to
develop in the negro an easy-going, care-free disposition.
Because food was abundant the negro developed a large phy-
sique. But inducements for mental development there were
none. Mind is the product of necessity; man thinks only
when forced to do so. The negro was not compelled to use
much ingenuity or to tax his intellect to any great extent
to provide a living; so his mental capacities did not develop.
Nature did not select the shrewd or cunning as in the colder
climates; thus we find the negro possessing a strong physique

THE AMERICAN RACE PROBLEM 133

but an inferior intellect. By this we do not mean that poten-
tially the black mind is inferior; but since civilization is the
piling up of achievement and since the negro did not achieve
like the white man because he was not compelled to do so,
he has not acquired any accumulation to compare with that
of the white man; hence have resulted his mental inferiority,
his ranking below the white in the scale of progress, and his
falling a victim to the superior cunning, courage, and fighting
ability of the white. For this reason the black has become
a subject race while the white has become a ruling race. So
in our study of the negro in America we must remember his
past history. While he has been removed from the environ-
ment that brot about this condition the effects of it are still
with him. In Africa he came into contact with a condition
of nature which he could not explain; it was awe inspiring
and at the same time too complicated for him to master;
hence his belief in magic, superstition, and witch-craft. The
negro brot these beliefs to America with him and many of
them are still believed even today by the majority of the
negroes simply because they have been handed down from
generation to generation. The negro's contact with civiliza-
tion has been very recent and then under an artificial con-
dition. It will take him at least hundreds of years, possibly
thousands, to catch up completely with the white — if he ever
does. At present his past hangs upon him like a great weight.

As a slave the negro learned to work but he did so under
compulsion, under conditions which made him hate manual
labor. He was made to work whether he wanted to or not.
Under slavery, in spite of his dislike for work, he became
proficient industrially ; many negroes became skilled mechanics,
carpenters, bricklayers, blacksmiths, and masons; others
became expert as cooks, butlers, coachmen, maids, and laun-
dresses ; those working on the cotton plantations became expert
in the raising of cotton. In fact each class became econom-
ically productive, and when granted his freedom the negro
as an economic machine was well equipped. In one way
slavery was a good thing for the negro — it taught him to
work. Yet it taught him at the same time to hate work.

Slavery, however, affected the negro in other than indus-
trial ways. Family life under slavery was not developed
even under the best conditions, for home life was uncertain.
Marriages were seldom performed; marriage ties were seldom
held sacred; the master could sell a man's wife or a woman's

134 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OP SOCIOLOGY

hu-band or a parent's child; he could break up the family
of his slave at will. Then, too, family ties were not even
<1 necessary; the masters themselves not only did
not protect virtue in their female slaves, but too frequently
di.l not respect it themselves. Hence it is no wonder that
the negro not only learned little family morality but also
acquired little skill in the training of children. Furthermore
because his work was planned for him and his task assigned,
he did not acquire self-control and the ability to plan things
for himself and to make provision for the future. He did
not have these traits developed when he came to America
and slavery did not develop them for him. Slavery taught
the American negro respect for and deference to the whites;
it perhaps developed him physically because in the first place
it caused him to go thru a difficult test of survival of the
fittest, especially before he reached this country, the weakest
falling by the wayside on the trip to the coast or perishing
on board ship. The high -strung and independent negroes were
also cut down by the slave drivers when they resisted or
tried to escape. In this way only the strong and submissive
survived.

Possibly the most demoralizing period in the history of
the negro was the brief but horrible time of Reconstruction
when the carpet-baggers from the North tried to organize
the negroes and teach them that they were the equals of
the whites, and, by use of their votes, attempted to fill their
own pockets at the expense of the Southern whites. These
carpet-baggers cared nothing for the negroes; they merely saw
in them a means of making money for themselves. The
period of Reconstruction aroused the hatred of the South
against the North far more than did the war itself; it caused
the Southerners to misapprehend the real purpose of the North
and to look upon all Northerners as scoundrels. At the same
time race friction was increased. During slavery the rela-
tions between the average master and slave were very satis-
factory in that they were friendly; both master and slave
lived on the best of terms. When the carpet-baggers began
to organize the negroes and to arouse in them a hatred of
their former masters race friction rapidly developed. The
reaction of the Southern whites found expression in the
Ku Klux Klan and later in the practical disfranchisement
of the negroes in most of the Southern states. But from
the standpoint of the negro probably the most serious aspect

THE AMERICAN RACE PROBLEM 135

was that it took him from his work, causing him to leave the
cotton field and his other occupations, to loaf in town, and
to look down upon manual labor.

Upon emancipation the negro did not educate or train his
children to become economically efficient; he did not wish
his children to be obliged to work as he had worked. He
wanted them to become educated, since in his view education
was the key to social position. Instead of teaching them
trades he tried to educate them, especially in Northern schools,
and consequently the second generation did not attain the
economic efficiency of their parents. The slaves had been
somewhat trained by the whites, but the younger generation
received little if any training; they simply grew up, creating
a more serious problem than the preceding generation.
Because they were not efficient they could not command good
wages; they were not able to provide a good living and so
slumped economically. Thirty years after the war the negro
was worse off than he was when he was given his freedom,
for then he was efficient and the South needed and wanted
him. But later he was less efficient and the whites had grown
disgusted with him.

Many authorities, among them Professor Mecklin, contend
that in the case of the negro the psychological and physiolog-
ical differences from the white are innate, rather than environ-
mental; that the colored race has certain innate mental as
well as physical qualities; that he is characterized by a greater
power of memory, stronger sexual passions, submissiveness
rather than pugnacity, a larger sense of sociability, and a
greater ability to read character and interpret one's thots;
that he is essentially emotional in religion; that he has a
smaller capacity for group organization and for government;
that he is more dependent upon imitation, emotion, and emu-
lation and less upon rational thinking and purposeful direc-
tion. The writer admits all these characteristics and the
possibility that some of them may be innate; however, he
believes that the influences of natural selection and environ-
ment are much stronger; hence he has stressed them.

Economic Progress of the Negro. — The economic prog-
ress is not so difficult to estimate if we are able to get relia-
ble statistics on the negro today, for he began upon emanci-
pation with practically nothing. A few had gained their
freedom before emancipation and had accumulated some prop-
erty, and the masters of some had started them out with small

136 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES Of SOCIOLOGY

farms, but the bulk of the negroes began life upon receiving
their freedom at the economic zero point. The Negro Year
Book is responsible for the following statistics in regard to
the economic progress of the negro:

I !!«.«. 1883 1893 1903 1916

!• . . .. J2.000 128.000 210.000 390,000

20.000 380.000 550.000 790.000 981.000

Hu.mr.... ron.lurtrd .. 2.100 10.000 17,000 25.000 45.000

Wr.lth .crumuUtr.1 ...$20.000,000 $75.000.000 $150.000,000 $300,000.000 $1,000,000,000

This data shows that the negro has steadily increased in
economic prosperity until in 1916 he had an average per
capita wealth of about $100. However to ascertain the true
significance of this increase we must compare it with the
increase for the whole country. In 1860 the average per
capita wealth was $308 and in 1916 about $2,000. So, while
the negro has prospered economically and, because he started
with practically nothing, has perhaps increased more in pro-
portion than the white, his actual amassing of wealth has not
kept up with that of the country. But the really encour-
aging feature is the rapid increase shown during the past
few years, it more than trebled between 1903 and 1916. Since
1916 it has increased still more because of the economic pros-
perity of the South, in which he has shared. If the negro
continues at this rate of progress it will be only a matter of
a few decades until his economic condition will compare much
more favorably with that of the white man.

In all probability one of the chief reasons for the recent
economic progress of the negro has been the spread of indus-
trial education among the black population. From the indus-
trial schools for the negro comes possibly our greatest promise
that instead of the average negro having practically nothing
he will become fairly prosperous. When the negro owns
property and pays taxes he not only commands greater respect
but is in a position to obtain better schools and is in a better
position to remove his other problems. Also when the negro
is industrious he is less apt to get into trouble.

Immigration has not seriously affected the negro in the
South, but it may in the future. In the North the immigrant
has driven the negro out of many occupations in much the
same manner as he has the whites. He has not done this
by underbidding the negro but by greater efficiency; he has
crowded the negro out of such occupations as that of barber,
waiter, janitor, and bell-boy. This has pushed the negro into

THE AMERICAN RACE PROBLEM 137

unskilled labor, which requires mere muscle, work which the
white man does not want. It is not so much race prejudice
as the ability of the white man to do his work better and
more rapidly, that has produced this result. The white man
•is more reliable and more efficient, and because of his capacity
to form labor unions he is more powerful economically. Few
unions will admit negroes, thus preventing them from enter-
ing the ranks of skilled labor, even if they are individually
capable of doing so. Immigrants are not so barred and can
thus enter the ranks of skilled labor.

Immigration has not as yet affected the South, because
the immigrant does not care to compete with the negro, partly
because of the low wages in the South and partly because
of the fear that he will be placed upon the same social level
as the negro. Several Southern states have been attempting
to divert a part of the immigrant stream into the South, but
thus far they have not been very successful. It is clear,
however, that the few immigrants, who have gone to the
South, have more than held their own industrially with the
negro. Stone1 tells of an experiment on an Arkansas cotton
plantation, in which Italians and negroes were employed side
by side on the same plantation; the result was that the Ital-
ians produced on the average 2,584 pounds of lint per head,
against 1,174 for the negro; that the Italians produced on
the average 403 pounds of lint per acre, against 233 pounds
for the negroes; that the Italian's average cash product per
head was $277.32, as against $128.47 for the negro; and that
the Italian's cash product per acre was $44.70, as against
$26.30 for the negro. In this experiment the Italians were
at a disadvantage because they were unaccustomed to cotton
growing; they even had to be shown which plants were cotton
and which were weeds; but in spite of this each Italian
worked on an average 6.2 acres against 5.1 for the negro,
and produced 170 pounds more lint per acre. The chief
difference, however, lay in the supply account, the Italian
getting only the things that he absolutely had to have and
the negro obtaining all that he could get. The Italian kept
his expenses below his income and saved in order to pay
for the land, but the negro did not even try to save for next
year's supplies, looking upon a cash balance at the end of
the year as money to spend or rather to throw away, letting

^tone, A. H., "Studies in the American Race Problem", pp. 180-195.

138 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

next year's crop take care of itself. The Italian bought for
cash where he could do so at a discount, even offering to
pay his rent in advance if given a discount. Of course he
bought things cheaper than did the negro, who as a rule
pays the highest prices for everything that he buys. If
similar experiments are tried thruout the South with the same
result, it will only be a question of time until the immigrant
becomes a serious competitor of the negro in the South, with
possibly even more disastrous results than in the North,
because it is the more enterprising negro who goes to the
North. On this account the Southern negro will be even less
able to compete than his Northern brother altho climate will
be in favor of the negro, as well as the habit and preference
of the Southern white to employ the negro. If immigration
is thus turned towards the South it will greatly increase the
negro problem, for it will add industrial discrimination to
social ostracism. The unreliability of the negro is his great-
est handicap. His shiftlessness and improvidence will cause
him to lose to the immigrant wherever they come into con-
tact. This is the cause of his being obliged to pay higher
prices and to work under harder terms of contract than he
otherwise would be able to command.

The migratory habits of the negro hinder him economically.
The plantation owner never knows how many of this year's
ter.ants he will have next year. The employer of negro labor
never knows how many of today's laborers will appear for
work tomorrow. The Southern railroads have made use of
this habit of the negroes by arranging frequent excursions;
thus they help to pay dividends. Circuses and amusement
companies also take advantage of his love of amusement and
change.

In opposition to this threatened competition of the immi-
grant is the movement to train the negro industrially; to
teach men trades and scientific farming, and to teach the
women how to keep house and cook — to be, in short, efficient
economically. If this movement increases with sufficient
rapidity to discourage immigration, it will help to solve the
economic situation. Ttte Southern white would much prefer
negro labor to that of white if the negro were as efficient.
The negro, too, is better adapted to the climate, especially
in the cotton belt, and has this advantage over the white.
But at present the negro has not the monopoly upon the

THE; AMERICAN RACE PROBLEM 139

labor, especially the skilled labor, in the South which he had
at the close of the Civil War.

Under the present conditions the negro generally rents his
land instead of owning it; he usually rents it on shares, the
white owner furnishing the land, tools, and seed; and the
negro, the labor; then the two share the crop, ordinarily
one-half and one-half. In addition the white generally
advances supplies, which are to be paid for at harvest time
from the negro's share. If the negro rents land not under
plantation management, he gets his supplies advanced to
him by a merchant or cotton factor, in the manner and to
the amount that his credit entitles him. Because of the
ignorance and poor bargaining position of the negro he is
often the victim of fraudulent bookkeeping, but with most
of them such a system is almost necessary. The exceptional
negro who has good credit can get cash advances or can rent
at a definite cash rental, and if he is honest and industrious,
he can soon, because of the richness of the soil, become inde-
pendent. In fact much of the land is so rich, especially
along the Mississippi river, that it will make a crop in spite
of the negligence of the negro, and it is for this reason that
the negro is able to have advances made to him. But as
yet few have become independent; they prefer to spend their
money on excursions, picnics, gambling, whiskey, women, and
cheap jewelry. Such is the condition in the cotton belt. It
is just such conditions as this that the followers of Booker
T. Washington are trying to overcome by making the negro
industrially efficient.

Negro Education. — The educational progress has been
more rapid and the results more satisfactory than the
economic progress of the negro; yet there is endless oppor-
tunity for improvement. The Negro Year Book is again
drawn upon for the following statistics in regard to the edu-
cational progress of the negro.1

1863 1883 1903 1916

Per Cent Literate 5 30 56 75

Dumber Colleges and

Normal Schools 4 120 425 500

Students in Public Schools- 10,000 817,000 1,577,000 1,736,000

Teachers in all Schools ISO 16,000 28,600 36,900

School Property for

Higher Education $ 50,000 $7,000,000 $15,000,000 $21,500,000

Expend, for Education 200,000 5,500,000 10,000,000 14,600,000

Raised by Negroes for Educ. 10,000 500,000 900,000 1,600,000
'Fear Book 1913-1914, pp. 2-4; 1916-1917, p. 1.

140 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES Of SOCIOLOGY

The most noticeable improvement has been in the increase
of the percentage of literacy. The amount of money spent
in negro education and the amount of money invested in
school property have kept pace with the increase in the num-
ber of pupils. Yet the amount of money raised by the negroes
themselves in proportion to that raised by the whites is still
vrry small, altho the ratio is steadily becoming greater. In
a few sections of the South the negroes are supplementing
by subscription the funds appropriated for negro schools. If,
however, we compare the amount of money spent on each
negro in the public schools, we shall find it small in com-
parison to the amount spent on the white child. In one
way we cannot blame the white voters for not appropriating
more for negro schools, because the whites pay about 97 per
cent of the taxes. Yet, as Page says,1 an uneducated negro
is a greater problem than an educated one. He is more
affected by crime, vice, and poverty.

Two great difficulties confront negro education; lack of
efficient teachers and lack of equipment. It is impossible
to get whites to teach in negro schools in appreciable numbers
because of the attendant social ostracism. Then it is hardly
advisable to employ white teachers anyway for negro children
because of its possible tendency towards social equality. Until
very recently there have been few capable negro teachers,
for upon emancipation only a small percentage of the negroes
were even literate, and in the past many of the negro teachers
have been scarcely better than literate, being barely able
to read and write. With time this problem will be eliminated.
As a rule any sort of shack is considered good enuf for the
negro school, and benches of any style or stage of delapi-
dation sufficient for equipment. Even the pay of the teachers
has been so poor that it has not attracted even the best pre-
pared negroes; until this condition is remedied we cannot
expect good teachers. Another hindrance is the short session,
often lasting only from three to five months in a year—
sometimes only a few weeks. The result is that negro edu-
cation is by no means so efficient as it might be.

During slavery, education of the negro was not fostered;
in fact it was forbidden by law in Alabama, Georgia, Louisi-
ana, and South Carolina, and discouraged in all other South-
ern states for fear that education would foster dissatisfaction

'Pa»f, Thomi. Nebon. "The Ntgro, the Southerner's Problem", p. 297.

THE AMERICAN RACE PROBLEM 141

among the negroes in regard to their position. The house-
hold servants were frequently taught the rudiments of an
education, enuf at least to enable them to discharge their
duties efficiently. The field hands were not so fortunate,
however, and were seldom educated to any extent.

During the period of Reconstruction educators went to
the South from the North, influenced by missionary zeal, to
help educate the negro. While fired by the same missionary
spirit which has sent missionaries to the foreign field they
probably caused more harm than they did good. These
teachers too frequently tried to teach the negro social equality,
even practicing it by mingling and associating with the
negroes themselves. They also tried to teach the negro too*
many of the frills of education, like Latin and Greek, instead
of giving him the education which he could use in his every-
day life. This caused negro education to become discredited
in the eyes of the Southern whites, who paid the taxes, and
as a result money was not voted for negro schools. It has
only been since the education of the negro has been conducted
along practical lines that the whites of the South have taken
an interest in it. At first the funds were raised in the North,
largely as missionary money. During the last few years prac-
tical courses have been offered in negro schools, especially
the high schools, including the industrial i subjects and domes-
tic science. Under the latter are included not only cooking
and sewing, but the canning and preserving of fruits and
vegetables.

The whole modern trend of negro education for the negroes
is away from higher education fitting for the professions,
entry to which is difficult for the negro, if not impossible.
The aim is, instead, to fit for actual industrial life and efficient
home keeping by the teaching of trades. These include car-
pentering, bricklaying, masonry, paper-hanging, blacksmithing,
dairying, and agriculture, thus fitting the negro for a place
in life where he can become economically prosperous. The
demand for negro doctors, lawyers, dentists, and other pro-
fessional classes is, however, slowly increasing, altho as yet
the negroes themselves prefer the white professional man
because of their greater confidence in his professional ability.
As this demand increases greater opportunities will be opened
up for the negro along these lines. In the past many negroes
have obtained college and professional training in Northern
colleges and universities and have been unable to make use

142 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF1 SOCIOLOGY

of this training because of the lack of a demand for their
ion.

In the Northern states, because of the small number of
negroes and the less acute feeling, there have been no sepa-
rate schools, except in one or two states like Missouri, and
a few towns, such as Kansas City, Kansas, the negroes have
enjoyed the same educational opportunities, but have not had
the same opportunities for making use of that education.
In the South, however, the education of the negro is an aspect
of the race question, which is quite serious. But recently
there seems to be not only greater response on the part of
.the negro but also greater appreciation on the part of the
"white, and as a result much greater progress is being made.
If the negro can increase his economic prosperity, negro edu-
cation can be easily improved.

The Political Condition. — Under slavery the negro of
course had no political rights other than protection against
abuse, and even here his rights were very limited. It was
a crime wilfully to kill a slave but not to flog him, and in
most states to kill him accidently or to maltreat him was
not a punishable offence. The law protected him much the
same as today it protects animals from cruelty. As to voting
privileges he had none in the South1 and but few in the North ;
in fact out of the thirty-four states which made up the Union
in 1861, thirty excluded negroes from the right of franchise
by constitutional provision; in the other four — New York,
Vermont, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts — the negroes
were not only few in number but of a very high standard
of education and industry.

By the adoption of the Fifteenth Amendment to the Con-
stitution of the United States the American people committed
probably the worst political blunder in the history of this
country. This amendment was adopted in order to give the
negro the right to defend himself by means of the ballot.
But the negro was unable to appreciate the value and sig-
nificance of the ballot; as a result he was merely the tool
of corrupt politicians. This fact explains the prevalence of
so much corruption during the period of Reconstruction; the
majority of the whites were disfranchised because of taking
part in the Civil War against the Federal government, and

There were a few exceptions to this; free negroes could vote in North Carolina
up until 1835.

THE AMERICAN RACE PROBLEM 143

the right of the ballot was held by the ignorant negro who
had no idea of how to use it. This increased race friction
and probably injured the negro as much as it did the white;
in fact it is an open question which of the two has been
injured the more by the Fifteenth Amendment. So acute
was the problem and so great the abuse of the ballot by
the negro that the Southern whites were compelled to take
steps to deprive him of it. This deprivation took two forms;
force or intimidation, and political disfranchisement. At first
violence and fraud were used openly because it was deemed
that the situation warranted such action. This condition
lasted until 1890, when Mississippi took the first step towards
the disfranchisement of the negro by adopting a literacy test
for voters. While this applied to both colored and white
voters, it affected the colored chiefly because of their greater
illiteracy. Other states went still further, following the lead
of Louisiana, and adopted the so-called "grandfather" clauses,
making the privilege of voting dependent upon the ability
to read and write, unless one was a lineal descendant of
one who voted prior to 1867. Other states require the pay-
ment of taxes; Georgia by a cumulative poll-tax law, which
requires back poll-taxes to be paid, has probably the most
effective disfranchisement clauses, altho there is no discrimi-
nation between black and white. In Tennessee the prepay-
ment of a poll-tax is necessary for voting, and as a result
the bulk of the negroes do not vote, considering it not worth
the payment of the tax. Texas also has a poll-tax qualifica-
tion for voting, requiring the presentation of a poll-tax receipt
at the polls; in addition to this Texas has a white man's
primary. Some of these clauses have been upheld by the
Supreme Court of the United States, because technically they
do not violate the Fifteenth Amendment, but the "grand-
father" clauses of the constitutions of Oklahoma and Mary-
land have been declared unconstitutional and some of the
other state qualifications have expired because of time limi-
tations. While these laws very effectively debar most negroes
from voting, the negro can qualify under all of them; in fact
it would probably be impossible to frame a test acceptable
to the Supreme Court which some of the negroes could not
ultimately meet.

On the whole the effect of these disfranchisement clauses
has been good, for they have disfranchised the ignorant, shift-
less, and irresponsible negro, whose ballot was a corrupting

144 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

element in politics. Altho they have undoubtedly debarred
in one way or another many who are able to vote intelli-
-rnth. they h;i\r had in the main a beneficial effect. Row-
any law. such as the Louisiana law, which does not
apply equally to both races is not a fair and just law. If
the negro is disfranchised it ought to be by a method which
would apply to both races, such as a literacy test, a property
qualification, or a tax-paying requirement. These provisions
are as effective as the others and eliminate the vote of the
ignorant and shiftless white as well as that of the ignorant
and shiftless negro. If the country comes to the conclusion
that the Fifteenth Amendment was a mistake, that amendment
^hould be repealed as a whole rather than nullified by state
legislation. If the negro can qualify the same as the white
tor voting he thus gives a sign that he is worthy of the ballot.
< >ne bad feature of the application of the literacy test to
the negro alone is that it supplies a reason to the white poli-
tician for not giving the negro so good educational facilities
as are given the white; in other words it tends to discourage
negro education, for the chief political aim is to eliminate
not only the ignorant negro vote but also the entire negro
vote. On the whole the granting of suffrage to the negro
has been a complete failure. The ballot should not have been
given to the negroes as a race but if it was to have been given
to them at all, it should have been held out to them as an
inducement for progress by being granted gradually, that is
as soon as they qualified for it by being able to read and
write, by holding a certain amount of property, or by the
payment of taxes. Then as soon as they qualified, they would.
have known how to use the voting power and would not have
formed a dangerous element in politics; they would have
gained suffrage gradually, not in sufficient numbers to control
politics.

Negro Problems. — 1. Poverty and Pauperism. — Under
economic progress we have considered the poor economic con-
dition of the negro, with the causes which produced it and
some of the effects upon other phases of the race problem.
We saw that the negroes as a class possess little property,
and that the bulk of the negroes are not far removed from
absolute dependence, and as a result fall easily into pauper-
ism. We have reliable statistics as to the exact or even
approximate amount of pauperism among the colored people.
In the South the most of the paupers are negroes; in fact,

THE AMERICAN RACE PROBLEM 145

in some sections nearly all the paupers are colored. In
Charleston it is asserted that 96 per cent of the pauper funer-
als are the funerals of negroes, altho the negroes make
up only 53 per cent of the population. This condition is
only the natural result of the indolence, shiftlessness, ignor-
ance, and untrained condition of the negro. The low standard
of living of the negro is the most serious aspect of the situa-
tion for pauperism is only an inevitable outgrowth of this.
The negro is contented to live on a much lower plane than
the white because he has not as yet fully realized the need
of living on a higher one. There is also less incentive to
reach this higher state on account of few opportunities he
has for advancement. The economic standard of living must
be raised before the present poverty-stricken condition of
the negro can be prevented; to raise this standard the negro
must become industrially more productive and efficient.

2. Crime. — In order to draw a comparison between the
criminal tendency of the white and colored races let us take
a glance at the following table, based upon figures of the

U. S. Census Bureau:

Whites Negroes

Prisoners in 3,198 prisons in 1910 172,797 38,701

Commitments to these prisons in 1910 368,468 110,319

Prisoners to 100,000 population, 1910 89 378

Commitments to 100,000 population, 1910 425 1,079

This ratio of crime for the negro is much greater in the
Northern states than in the Southern, there being in 1910
722 prisoners per 100,000 in the former against 323 for the
latter. This is owing in part to the greater temptation in
the Northern states caused by the living in cities, industrial
ostracism of the negroes, and the larger ratio of mulattoes,
who are much more addicted to crime than the pure negro.
Then added to this is the lack of sympathy on the part of
the Northern judge, who does not understand negro nature
and is less inclined to let him off with a reprimand or upon
his promise to go to work. The Southern white is much
more ready to go bail for his negro employees than is the
Northerner. In short the Southerner knows the weaknesses
of the negro and makes allowance for them. The higher rate
of negro criminality is not so alarming as it seems, because
a large percentage of it is made up of petty crimes, such as
petty larceny, disorderly conduct, crap shooting, etc. The
greater tendency towards theft is a natural outcome of the

146 INTRODUCTION TO THK PRINCIPLES Of SOCIOLOGY

past history of the negro. Under slavery if he obtained any

extras, such as food delicacies, he had to steal them, and it

is only natural that the negro should continue. Also in

Africa stealing never was considered a serious offence. In

i in sections of the South, especially the Yazoo-Mississippi

Drita region, serious crimes play a more important part; in

Stum estimates that crimes against the person, such as

murder, manslaughter, and attempt to kill, make up 80 per

cent of the offences of the Delta negroes.1

This unfavorable criminal condition is caused largely by
poor training, especially in the family, owing to defective
family conditions among the colored people, these resulting,
as we have previously noted, from the past history of the
negro. A part of it moreover can be traced to the less sat-
isfactory' surroundings of the negro, especially in our cities,
for the negro nearly always occupies the poorest part of the
town, not only in regard to sanitation and pleasantness of
location but also in regard to improvements. Poor educa-
tion, especially industrial, is also responsible for a large share.
Thus the environmental factors are much more conducive
to the committing of crime by the negro than by the white
man. The forces holding back the negro from crime are
weaker and the temptations confronting him are much greater;
therefore it is only reasonable to expect the colored man to
have a higher rate of criminality than his white brother.

Lynching is a phase of negro criminality, more damaging,
however, to the reputation of the white man than to that of
the negro. It began with the whipping of negroes for minor
offences, such as stealing, running away, etc., before the time
of emancipation. Since then more cruel methods have come
into use, until hanging and burning at the stake have come
to be the favorite methods of execution. The statement is
often made that lynching is for the one crime rape, but such
is not the case, and in fact such an assertion is far from the
truth, for less than one-fourth of the lynching of negroes
is for assaults upon women. Also lynchings are not limited
to the colored race, nor are they confined to the Southern
states. Of the sixty-seven persons lynched in 1915 (thirteen
of whom were white and fifty-four colored), eleven (ten col-
ored and one white), were charged with rape; sixteen (four
white and twelve colored), with murder; nine (three white

'Stone. "Studici in the American Race Problem", p. 106.

THE AMERICAN RACE PROBLEM 147

and six colored), killing officers of the law; three wounding
officers of the law; a family of four — father, son, and two
daughters, with clubbing an officer of the law; three, poison-
ing mules; two, stealing hogs; two (white), disregarding warn-
ings of night riders; three, insulting women; two entering
women's rooms; two, wounding a man; one, stealing meat;
two, burglary; one, robbery; one, stealing cotton; one, charged
with stealing a cow; two, furnishing ammunition to man resist-
ing arrest; one, (white) beating wife and child; one, charged
with being accessory to the burning of a barn.1 All these
crimes deserved punishment, but hardly lynching. With the
crime of rape, especially under the revolting circumstances
which sometimes attend it there is possibly some excuse
for the taking of law into one's own hands; at least the
temptation is terribly strong, and we might excuse people
for losing control of themselves under such conditions. But
the sudden and extreme punishment by lynching of the other
crimes seems to have no justification whatever. To be sure
the action of the law is often slow and sometimes justice mis-
carries but law enforcement should be improved, not nulli-
fied by ultra-legal measures. Instances have happened where
prisoners convicted by law and waiting the execution of the
death penalty have been taken from the hands of the law
and lynched. But the unfortunate thing about lynching is
that it does not stop the crime which it intends to punish;
in fact it often increases crime by advertising it and — what
is still worse — brutalizes the community. Often officers of
the law are too cowardly or two biased to defend their pris-
oners; so they surrender them without protest or defense.
Lynching has caused negroes as a rule to hide the guilty
person and to sympathize with him, rather than to give him
up. They look upon lynching as an attack upon the race,
rather than as punishment of the individual. Among many
suggested remedies are segregation of the colored race and
speedier trials. Both of these would help, but the problem
is a difficult one and in order that lynching may be completely
stopped, sentiment against it must be cre'ated; it is a disgrace
to our country. Altho there has been a temporary increase
since the war, the problem is not nearly so bad as formerly;
fewer than half as many are lynched as there were twenty-five
years ago, the numbers fluctuating now between fifty and

Year Book, 1916-17, p. 338.

148 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES Of SOCIOLOGY

seventy-five, while in the 90's the annual average was 166.6;
but th«- rhii-f decrease has been in the lynching of white men,
alt ho the number of colored persons lynched has decreased
about 50 per cent. So in time we may outlive this horrible
result of race friction.

Immorality and Vice. — No reliable statistics can be
given concerning immorality and vice altho some statisticians
have attempted to show that between one-fourth and one-
fifth of births among the negroes are illegitimate. Immorality
ilouri>hrs among the colored population far more than among
the white, not only because of the conditions existing among
the negroes during the times of slavery, but also because of
their past history in Africa, where the climate tended to the
preservation of those with a high birth-rate and thus caused
the negro to inherit stronger passions than the white man.
These, joined with his weaker will power and greater tempta-
tion under present conditions, naturally produce higher rates
of irregularity and vice.

4. The Mulatto. — The mulatto problem is not only seri-
ous but also pathetic. It is the mulatto who causes most
trouble, for the full-blooded negro generally accepts his posi-
tion of inferiority without much objection. The mulatto is
less submissive, for he usually combines the nervous energy
of his white father with the physique of his colored mother;
all too frequently the degenerate blood of some of the best
families in America flows in his veins. The leading colored
men have nearly always a certain amount of white blood;
biologically the crossing of the strains as a rule has a bene-
ficial effect; from a physiological standpoint the mixing of
the colored and the white races is no exception. But the
trouble comes in regard to the mulatto's social standing for
we cannot accept him on the social plane of the white. He
must accept the social conditions of the negro ancestor, and
frequently he is too high-spirited to do this; so friction results.
Besides it is the reckless and immoral element of the white
population that mingles with the negro, for the mulatto is
in nearly all cases illegitimate, very seldom being the result
of wedlock. Strange as it may seem, many white slave-owners
cohabited with their female slaves and, still stranger, white
youths of all classes of society in the Southern states, even
to this day, sometimes have thot nothing of such a condi-
tion. Of course these relations are more frequently with the
colored women who have some white blood; it is said that

THE AMERICAN RACE PROBLEM 149

a good-looking mulatto girl is not safe from white molesta-
tion. As a natural result the heredity of the mulatto is not
conducive to good morals, and the training simply encourages
this situation. Then ostracism is attached to the mulatto,
even by members of the colored race, because of the fact that
he is generally illegitimate; this ostracism from without added
to his superior intellect and nervous force makes him reckless,
and his degenerate heredity tends to drive him to excesses;
so he is much harder to handle socially than is the full-blooded
negro. One very sad phase of this situation is the fact that
the percentage of those of mixed blood is steadily increasing.
This possibly may be due to the fact that the white blood
is gradually becoming disseminated thruout the entire colored
population. But on the whole the mixture of races is one
of the most serious aspects of the whole negro problem. At
present we have found no way in which to cope with it.

Can the Negro Problem Be Solved? Proposed Solu-
tions. — As far as solution or any definite constructive plan
of action is concerned, the American race problem is in all
likelihood the most difficult one facing the student of
sociology, for we are obliged to admit that as far as can be
seen now the problem is insoluble. At best it can only be
alleviated, the race friction made less keen and the dangers
less threatening, and the rough spots smoothed to some extent.
But even here there is no uniformity of opinion; the differ-
ences depend largely upon the section of country which the
student calls his home.

1. Impossible Solutions. — Before we take up any plan
of action worthy of serious consideration we must discard
certain plans as antagonistic to our social welfare, among
which are the following:

( 1 ) . A bsorption. — It is argued sometimes that since the
negroes compose only one-tenth of our population we could
in time absorb them by intermarriage; it is also added that
the crossing of the races would be advantageous. We may
admit that the crossing might not be disadvantageous phys-
iologically— altho the writer personally doubts it — but we
simply cannot bear the thot of becoming a mulatto race,
and that is what we should come to if we followed this plan.
For if we apply the principles of Mendelism to the crossing
of the white and the colored races, we find that the ratio of
blacks would remain the same, and because of the greater
birth-rate of blacks they would even be constantly catching

150 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

up. Then in addition many of the negro characteristics,
such as woolly hair, thick lips and flat nose, are dominant
characteristics and would tend to predominate. We should
simply become a hopelessly mixed race.

(2). Equality. — The question is brot up: Why not give
the negro social and political equality? The answer is: The
races are not equal; the white race has back of it thousands
of years of achievement and civilization, and no legislation
can make the two races equal. Then, too, social equality
wnuld lead to intermarriage, else it would not be equality.
This would be disastrous, for we cannot absorb the negro;
so we must reject any plan which leads towards attempted
absorption. This plan is not offered by anyone who is at
all familiar with the negro problem.

(3). Colonization. — A plan of colonization was advocated
by Thomas Jefferson and has often been proposed by various
men since that time. It has been opposed in the past on
grounds of expense. Now it is impossible because we should
be unable to find any place to send the negroes. The various
parts of the world have been taken over by the different
nations, and we have no possessions of our own which are
suitable for the purpose. At one time this plan would per-
haps have been the best method of dealing with the problem,
but that time has long since passed; in fact it probably had
passed before colonization was even seriously considered.

2. Possible Solutions. — ( 1 ) . Industrial Education. —
The most plausible, and certainly the most workable, solu-
tion— if we can call any program a solution — is that of indus-
trial education. This was the plan originated at Hampton
but popularized by the late Booker T. Washington, who
built up Tuskeegee so successfully upon this idea. Wash-
ington argues that under present conditions the attempt to
give higher education to the negroes is misdirected energy,
because the negro can make no practical use of this form
of education. The only sensible way to educate the negro,
he said, is to educate his hands, so he can become indus-
trially efficient and economically independent. With economic
independence the negro would gain the respect of the white
man; consequently race friction would diminish. If the negro
could produce he would receive good wages and therefore
would be able to make better provision for his family. Thus
the standard of living of the negro would rise. Other schools
have been founded upon this plan and it is now receiving

THE; AMERICAN RACE PROBLEM 151

wide support. The most of the Southern states have estab-
lished state mechanical and industrial ' colleges and normal
schools for the colored people. In addition there are a large
number of smaller private institutions; Alabama, for exam-
ple, in 1916 had twenty-eight. Under industrial education
the negroes would be able to become efficient as farmers, car-
penters, blacksmiths, bricklayers, wheelwrights, plasterers,
machinists, plumbers, tailors, printers, cooks, etc., and thus
they would be able to build a foundation for future progress.
( 2 ) . Segregation. — Another proposed solution -is segre-
gation, that is, the separation of negroes from whites, in
order that each race may live unmolested by the other. There
is, however, considerable difference of opinion in regard to
the best form of segregation; whether segregation shall be
by states, by counties, by towns, or only by different sections
of the same town. Each of these plans offers peculiar advan-
tages and difficulties. With state segregation the first prob-
lem would be as to what state or states would be chosen;
then what steps would be taken to keep the negroes in and
the whites out. This plan is objected to on the ground that
the negroes when separated from the whites lose the inspira-
tion of their presence and quickly sink into barbarism. The
present condition in Liberia, Haiti, and Santo Domingo is
given as proof of this. The same arguments are valid in a less
degree in regard to country and township segregation; at the
same time the advantages which would be derived amount
to less. If the negroes are herded into certain sections of
counties or towns, these sections are the least desirable and
do not receive the same improvements as the white sections;
the result would be the formation of slum districts. More-
over this is the condition which practically prevails today,
for the colored people as a rule Iftre in definite sections of
towns; these sections are unkept, unsanitary, and unsafe;
they are responsible to a large degree for the present amount
of poverty, crime, and immorality found among the negroes.
In fact it is argued that this is the very condition from which
we wish to escape. Against the whole question of segrega-
tion the argument is advanced that the South needs the negro
and the negro needs the South; that the white man needs the
negro to work for him and the negro needs the white man to
claim that segregation need not be rapid or even arbitrary, but
that voluntarily and gradually the negroes should be encour-
aged to move into districts by themselves and the whites should

152 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

be encouraged to move out of these districts. The difficulty
with Mich a solution is the question whether it ever would be
currird out unless it was made compulsory; if made thus
drastic it would cause much hardship and bitterness. While
segregation may ultimately be the solution it is at present
chiefly a matter of theory.

) . Caste. — A caste system is the viewpoint of the aver-
age Southerner and the practice at present in the South.
It is based upon the belief in the inferiority of the negro
as a race; that he is only halfway between the animals and
the white man; that in consequence he is fitted by nature
only to be a servant and to do the rougher, heavier work of
the world; that he never will be able to catch up with the
white man, and because of this, social equality — or any policy
which would tend towards absorption — is impossible, and
therefore the only way to treat the negro is to treat him
as an inferior, allowing him to mingle with the white man
but not as an equal; and that the white man needs him for
this purpose in order to devote his time to higher endeavors.
At present this is probably the only attitude that we can
take towards the negro where he exists in any great numbers,
but it is by no means a solution; it is the very condition which
we are attempting to solve. We constantly hear the remark,
"keep the negro in his place", and according to the caste
idea that place is beneath the white man. Absorption or
amalgamation of any kind is impossible and the negro must
be kept in his place; but that place need not necessarily be
beneath the feet of the white man. The black may be allowed
as far as his abilities permit, to carve out his own place, pro-
vided that place is distinct and separate from that of the
white man. But under present conditions of colored
inferiority, mental, moral, and industrial, the caste viewpoint
is almost the only attitude we can take towards the negro
— that is a sane and sensible caste attitude; but as a per-
manent solution it is impossible, for it does not remove the
present difficulties.

(4). Local Option. — A local option plan is offered by
Thomas Xelson Page when he suggests that since there are
as many problems as there are communities, let each com-
munity work out its own salvation. Oa the whole this is
a sane way of looking at the matter, yet the question arises,
will every community solve its race problem? Is the average
community able to do so wisely? Certainly this plan is not

THE AMERICAN RACE PROBLEM 153

radical and will cause no commotion but the question is
whether it will do anything.

(5). Compound Solution. — To the writer not one sepa-
rate method seems practicable. Any plan of action which
is at all effective must embody the best elements of all of
these previously discussed. The first step under our present
conditions is undoubtedly industrial education, in order to
make the negro more efficient and able to produce more
economically. To do this we should increase both in number
and effectiveness such schools as Tuskeegee and Hampden,
provide them all over the South, and compel the colored
children to attend them in the same manner that we compel
white children to go to our schools. This will make the
negro efficient, so that he will have no cause to fear an immi-
grant invasion of the South. Also it will enable him to
increase his wealth and raise his standard of living and in
this way solve many of his problems.

As a second step gradual segregation should be encouraged,
not only in towns and counties but possibly even in states.
Gradually encourage the negro to move into those regions
best adapted to him, such as the Yazoo-Mississippi Delta
region. As soon as the negro is efficient and worthy of it
and outnumbers the whites in any district he might have a
share in the government, at least in that government which
comes into contact with the negro population. This would
hasten the moving out of the whites and the moving in of
the negroes. As efficiency and race pride develop, the negro
will desire to be by himself and will speed this movement.

Then as soon as the negro can make use of it, encourage
higher education that he may provide his own doctors, law-
yers, ministers, and teachers. At present there is a growing
demand among the colored people for their own dentists,
doctors, lawyers, and teachers. They have always had their
own ministers but the demand now is for traiped ministers.
As segregation increases, this demand will increase. Then
the negro will be not only industrially self-sufficient but also
professionally independent and will be able to work out his
own salvation. As he becomes educated and self-reliant and
has a definite field of action, race friction will tend to diminish,
for the white will not fear him but will respect him the more,
and the negro will not feel his own inferiority but will attempt
to work out his own problems. Along with this there will
develop race pride, admiration for the negro characteristics,

154 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

and a final separation of the races. This plan is not offered
as the only solution but merely suggested as a possible pro-
gram. It is probably visionary, in fact probably impractica-
ble, at least for a long time, but if any such thing as a solution
of the negro problem is possible it must be worked out on
some such lines; that is it must be a compound solution,
and must embody the best features of all the other plans.
At present the difficulty seems almost insurmountable and
at best capable only of alleviation or prevention of increase.

READING REFERENCES

WASHINGTON, B. T, The Story of the Negro, the Rise of the Race

From Slavery. Two volumes.

WASHINGTON, B. T., The Future of the American Negro.
WASHINGTON, B. T., Working With the Hands.
WASHINGTON, B. T., Up From Slavery.
STONE. A. H., Studies in the American Race Problem.
MECKJ.IN, J. M., Democracy and Race Friction.
BAKCK. B. S., Following the Color Line.
PAC«, T. N., The Negro, the Southerner's Problem.
DuBois, W. E. D., Souls of Black Folks.
DuBois, W. E. D., The Philadelphia Negro.
TTLLINCHAST, J. A., The Negro in Africa and America.
PHILIPS. U. B.. American Negro Slavery.
Dowo, J., The Negro Races, two volumes.

RATZEL, F., History of Mankind, Book IV, ."The Negro Races".
The Negro Year Book.

PART THREE
EVOLUTION OF SOCIAL INSTITUTIONS

iss

CHAPTER IX
EVOLUTION OF THE FAMILY

The Family a Social Unit. — The primary function of
the family, in fact, the leading reason for its existence — has
always been to bring children into the world and to rear
them. The protecting of the offspring by the parents is,
however, a function not confined to man but is one found
among practically all the higher animals. Many animals
even so train their young as to make them able to cope with
life and to care for themselves. This training, to be sure,
is generally given by only one parent — the mother — but
this fact is true also of man in the earlier stages of his exist-
ence. But from this primary function of reproduction and
protection there have sprung other functions until the family
has become a social center and, as many sociologists assert,
the unit of society. This phase of family life has become
so prominent that many people look with alarm upon the
present-day tendency for the family to lose some of its impor-
tance as a social center. The family has been likewise the
center of intellectual and moral instruction. Formerly these
phases were much more important than they are today, for
the family has given over much of this responsibility to
other agencies.

Almost all of the interests, customs, and problems of society
fall back upon the family. Division of labor originated in
the family with the division between man and woman. Even
nowadays the -occupation one chooses depends largely upon
the occupation of one's parent and upon home training. It
is the same with religion; one is likely to follow the religious
views of one's parents. Moreover we find that this has always
been the custom, and that it was even more effectively so
in the past than in modern times. Formerly the father was
the family priest; ancestor worship followed consequently;
then belief in spirits followed. Property today descends thru
the family, and has nearly always done so, altho at first it
descended thru the female line rather than the male. The

157

1S8 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

care of the dependent, the old, the sick, and the afflicted,
as well as of the young, has fallen upon the family, and it
has been only in recent years that the family has to any
great extent tried to shift this burden to the state.

The causes of most of the problems of society are easily
traced back to the family — to the early training (or perhaps
lack of training), as well as to the conditions for which hered-
ity itself is responsible. The strongest environment is the
rnvironment of early life, that of the home. It is the train-
ing received in the home that has the most to do with the
shaping of the after life. This is true not only of criminals,
immoral persons and degenerates but also of the poor as
-es. Because of these facts a study of sociology, no
matter how brief, would be incomplete without some consid-
eration of the family. To find out why our present-day
family takes the form that it does we must take a look at
the different stages thru which it has passed. We must find
the causes behind the changes and the forces that have been
brot to bear upon the family and have helped in its molding.
This study must necessarily investigate times preceding those
recorded in written history, for before there was history even
to record there was a form of the family. It is extremely
difficult to draw any really accurate descriptions of the early
family because of its antiquity, but the following more or
less definite stages can be noted.

History of the Family. — I. The Horde. — There is
supposed to have been a period when man roamed over the
earth in bands, living an animal-like existence. Some author-
ities, including McLennan and Morgan, declare that this was
the condition during the lowest stages of savagery, when
there was no real family, as we know it today, but instead
only the horde; that there was no such institution as mar-
riage, and no restraint upon the sexual passions, but that
promiscuity was universal and physical force the prevailing
law. They think that during this period the child was brot
up entirely by the mother, the father feeling no responsibility
in its behalf, and the child not even knowing its own father.
In fact some writers go so far as to maintain that the father
was entirely unconscious of paternity, and that children were
not sought but were the results of human passions. Conse-
quently the burden of bringing up the child fell inevitably
upon the mother. This situation was not so severe upon
the mother as it would be under present conditions of society,

EVOLUTION OF THE FAMILY 159

for that was the period of the direct appropriation of the
gifts of nature.

That man wandered around during this prehistoric period,
living a more or less animal-like existence, there is no doubt;
but many authorities, the foremost of whom is Westermarck,
affirm that monogamy was the general rule and promiscuity
the exception, even if man did live in bands. They admit,
of course, that such a condition of monogamy would differ
much from our own idea of monogamy but they declare that
man went in pairs for a more or less definite period of time,
at least until the child was born and was old enuf for the
mother to care for. Against a state of general promiscuity
they range three arguments, which Westermarck summarizes
as follows (a fourth argument is supplied by the writer).

1 . Zoological. — Among the higher animals a more or less
definite system of pairing is found and monogamy is the rule
rather than the exception. In fact promiscuity is far from
universal even in the pre-human stage. This argument is
illustrated by such animals as the anthropoid apes, some mem-
bers of the cat family, squirrels, seals, whales, gazelles, rein-
deer, hippopotamuses and, especially, birds.

2. Physiological. — Promiscuity tends to produce infer-
tility. Altho not every group which intermarries becomes
degenerate, because of the strength of the original group, yet
degeneracy is a probable result of intermarriage. Recognition
of this fact results in laws forbidding incest and intermar-
riage.

3. Psychological. — The universal prevalence of sexual
jealousy tends to uphold monogamy. This according to West-
ermarck, is the strongest argument against promiscuity. Pair-
ing would be the result of mutual attraction even under pre-
historic conditions, each person selecting as a mate whom
he or she preferred to any other, and it would only be natural
that they would rather remain together even in the absence
of authority designed to compel them to do so. At any rate
they would remain together till they grew tired of each other,
or until one of them met some one else that appealed to him
or her more. Since man has always been gregarious and nat-
urally prefers a companion of the opposite sex, it would only
be logical for the pairs thus mated to remain somewhat
permanently joined.

4. Biological Necessity. — Nature has always safeguarded
each of her creations. If the danger is great, the animal is

160 INTRODUCTION TO THE I'klNCnM.I.S OF SOCIOLOGY

especially protected. Fishes and lower forms of life are
protected by a heavy birth rate, thousands of eggs being
laid at a time. As the species rises in the scale of life the
number of offspring decreases but the care of the parents
for the young increases. If the animal is helpless at birth,
as is the casr with birds, the parents look after the young.
Man has a very low birth-rate as compared with most animals
and the period of infancy is greatly prolonged; so care by
the parents is absolutely necessary. In addition the mother
l>ecially helpless at the period of childbirth and needs
the protection of the male. This argument, which we may
rail biological necessity for the lack of a better name, is
strongly against the existence of any general state of prom-
iscuity.

Whether there ever was such a period as the horde, in
which either promiscuity or a modified form of monogamy
prevailed, is not and probably never will be definitely known.
Whatever the conditions were, the family ties could not have
been very strong at that time; but as man progressed they
became stronger. The father also grew to feel a responsi-
bility, at least in part, in the rearing of the children and so
came to contribute more and more towards their support.
As the races began to settle down, this trend developed a
period generally known as matriarchy or woman rule, in
regard to which there is likewise a considerable difference
of opinion, both as to its length and importance.

II. Matriarchy. — 1. Different Views on This Subject.
- Bachofen, who is generally given the credit of the author-
ship of this theory, considered that there was once a period,
indefinite in length, during which woman ruled. Some writers,
including the late Professor Ward, go so far as to say that
woman ruled because she was the stronger of the two phys-
ically, and that she ruled until she lost this superiority of
physique. Others on the contrary deny that there ever was
such a period. However, practically all the leading author-
ities today recognize some form of matriarchy, altho no two
definitely agree, and no one is altogether clear in his account
of this period. Some think that the period was a long one,
lasting possibly thousands of years; others that it was com-
paratively short; and still others that it was only a transi-
tional stage, and in many races skipped entirely.

At any rate there was a period in which mother right pre-
vailed and during which kinship was traced thru the female.

EVOLUTION of THE FAMILY 161

This was largely ascribable to the fact that the mother had
more to do with the rearing of the offspring than the father.
Besides the father was not always known; and even when he
was known, his connection with child birth was not clearly
understood, because of ignorance of the laws of reproduction,
pregnancy being among some peoples attributed to magic or to
some superhuman power. Also at this time the father was
a hunter and roamer, while the mother had a more or less
definite place of abode. Naturally, then she ruled the chil-
dren and had influence over the grown daughters till they
married, and to some extent over the grown sons; from this
fact there grew a measure of deference to the female. But
at this period in the world's history no such thing as political
government had developed; so woman could not have ruled
in the sense Bachofen meant.

2. Polyandry. — Polyandry, the possession by one woman
of more than one husband, developed as a system under
matriarchy, just as polygyny, the marriage of one man to
more than one woman, developed under the later period of
patriarchy. Sometimes a woman would have more than one
suitor, especially in countries where there was a scarcity of
women a situation brot about by infanticide, or by conditions
of living which made it impossible for one man to support
a wife — and she would practive polyandry. This system
did not, however, become universal because of the almost
equal number of individuals in the two sexes; in fact it has
been rather the exception. Yet it has survived even to the
present among a few peoples and is found in Ceylon, Tibet,
and Assam.

Howard divides polyandry into two types: (1) The Nair
type, in which the wife lives with her mother or brothers
and is free to choose her husbands or lovers, who need not
be related to each other. Kinship is traced thru the female
line, and property descends in the same fashion. "No Nair
knows his father and every man looks upon his sister's chil-
dren as his heirs."1 In a transitional stage the wife has a
home of her own, cohabiting with her husbands according to
fixed rules. Generally each lives with her a certain set period
at the end of which he gives way to the next man. This is
easily managed when all the husbands live in the same vil-
lage, but if they come from separate localities they sometimes

toward, "History of Matrimonial Institutions", quoting from Buchanan.

(E)

162 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF1 SOCIOLOGY

become confused in regard to dates, in which case trouble is
liable to ensue. (2). The Tibetan type, which is consid-
ered a higher form. The wife lives in the home of her hus-
bands, who are usually brothers. The eldest brother gener-
ally chooses the wife and claims as his all the children.

Among the Todas of India monogamy and polyandry exist
side by side. A man may choose his own wife and pay the
dower to her parents; or, with the consent of all parties,
his brothers may participate in the marriage, each one con-
tributing his share of the dower. In either case property
and kinship are traced thru the male line. McLennan believed
that the Tibetan type was quite common but it is not so
considered today.

3. Inheritance in Matriarchy. — As a rule inheritance, like
kinship, was traced thru the female. This however, has not
been universal, differing with the various tribes under diver-
gent conditions. As civilization progresses we find a tendency
toward descent thru the male.

4. Economic Argument in Regard to Matriarchy.—
Another condition that we find accompanying matriarchy is
that it appears strongest as a system in the countries where
the work of the women is economically more important than
the work of men — countries which are adapted to agricul-
ture rather than hunting or fishing or pastoral life. Because
as a mere laborer woman produces more she is naturally more
important than man and so has the more to say in regard
to the life of the family. But as soon as animals are domes-
ticated for use in agriculture and slave labor is utilized, the
tables are turned, for man is better adapted to train animals
and to manage slaves and servants. In countries adapted
to hunting and fishing or pastoral life man always has been
the leader, for under such circumstances his work has been
the more productive. For this reason we find that in some
countries the period of matriarchy was long and important
while in others it was short and unimportant and in some
cases passed over entirely.

Along the same line we find that polygyny is more apt
to prevail in countries where food is abundant and polyandry
where living is desperately hard. In countries where neither
extreme prevails and property and opportunity are more
equally divided monogamy is apt to be the general rule.

5. Exogamy and Endogamy. — These two customs have
no special connection with matriarchy but because they devel-

EVOLUTION OF THE FAMILY 163

oped during the same period they may be considered here.
Endogamy, or the compelling of one to marry within one's
group, is of comparatively slight importance. It principally
took the form of group marriages, a certain group of men
marrying with a certain group of women. These groups were
usually composed of brothers or sisters or those closely
related. In such groups each man had a preferential right
to one woman and a secondary right to every other woman.

The general practice, however, has always been exogamy,
or the compelling of a man to go outside of his or her group
for a partner. This system is maintained today among all
civilized races by forbidding the marriage of near relatives.
It results from the necessity of preventing degeneracy and,
according to Westermarck, from the universal horror or incest.
It is almost as universal among savage tribes as it is in civil-
ized groups. Among some tribes in Central Australia the
tribe is divided into two classes; the man is then compelled
to choose his wife from the opposite class. The Kamilaroi,
aborigines of Australia, are divided into six gentes, each of
which being named after an animal. Formerly members of
the first three could marry only into the last three, but later
custom grew more lax and inter-marriage is allowed into any
gens except one's own. Descent is traced thru the female
line, giving the children to the gens of the mother. This
condition has been found among nearly all the American
Indians but especially among the Iroquois, who furnish us
the best example of such a system. The Iroquois or Six
Nations, as they were frequently called, were divided into
eight gentes, which took the names of animals. Not all of
these gentes, however, were represented in each tribe. Each
individual had to go outside of his own gens to marry, and
as among the Australians, descent was at first traced thru
the female. The male went to live in the gens of his wife,
where he, except in rare cases, was looked upon as an out-
sider; he very often had little influence in the management
of affairs. The head was the eldest unmarried brother of
the woman and the honor of headship descended to the oldest
unmarried male in the family. This system later changed;
descent became transmitted thru the male line, thus ending
matriarchy.

Exogamy was brot about to a great extent by wife capture,
woman stealing being a consequent of successful warfare,
indicating prowess. Furthermore a female thus acquired had

164 INTRODUCTION TO THK PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

an economic value since she served her husband not only as
wife or concubine but also as drudge or slave. From this
practice exogamy developed till it became the custom. Because
of the fact that those tribes that practice exogamy survived
while those that practiced endogamy did not exogamy came
to have the sanction of law and religion. However, there
are many classical examples of sister marriages, as among the
Ptolemies of Egypt and the kings of Ancient Persia, where
the desire was to maintain the purity of the caste or of the
royal blood. Sister marriages are even today found in Ceylon
and the Sandwich islands. But exogamy has always been the
general rule whether from necessity or choice or both.

III. Patriarchy. — From matriarchy or rule of woman
the pendulum swung to the opposite extreme, that of patri-
archy or the rule of man, where the father was the head of
the house and ruled not only his wife and children but also
his children's families. He ruled supremely as long as he
lived, his wife frequently being his slave, and was succeeded
upon his death by his eldest son. Sir Henry Maine, in his
Ancient Law", published in 1861, advanced the theory that
this was the primitive form of the family and that the further
back we go in history the more wretched we find the condi-
tion of woman to have been. The trouble with his theory
was that he did not go far enuf back into history but based
his supposition altogether upon the early Roman family,
which his book pictures. It is true that in early Rome the
father had the right of life and death over his wife and chil-
dren. Altho woman was respected on account of her virtue,
her life was hard and the treatment accorded her often cruel.
In Ancient Greece, likewise, woman was kept at home; but
while she occupied a much lower place than the Roman
woman, she was more humanely treated. She was unedu-
cated and forbidden to mingle in society. Her whole duty
was to rear children for her husband. The Greek husband
did not abuse his wife; in fact he had little to do with her,
for he spent his time away from home talking politics and
philosophy, practicing or watching athletics, or listening to
orations. When he craved female companionship he sought
it from the Hetairii or public women, who being generally
foreigners, were educated and nearly equal to him intellect-
ually. While this was not the condition among all the Greeks
it was among many of them especially the Athenians and
lonians, among whom the men were highly educated; their

EVOLUTION OF THE; FAMILY 165

wives were on the other hand densely ignorant, being thot
unworthy of an education. In Sparta on the other hand there
was much greater equality. Among Aryan peoples, however,
woman has not been reduced to slavery, and in general she
has exercised joint control over the children, who were released
from parental authority when they married and formed homes
of their own.

According to the Hindu conception the wife was regarded
as incapable of holding property and so neither the wife
nor the daughters could inherit property. Still the bride pos-
sessed her own personal belongings — her couch, clothing, and
ornaments — and from this germ there probably arose the
present rights of property and inheritance. In other coun-
tries we find similar development. Gradually the position of
woman has risen from that of a mere chattel or piece of mer-
chandise in her husband's household to her present condition,
which in most countries is even yet inferior to that of man,
but which is constantly rising. In a few countries her status
has reached a plane almost equal to that of man.

1. Polygyny. — Under patriarchy we find polygyny, or the
marriage of one man to more than one woman. Usually there
was one preferred wife; often the others were concubines
or slaves. Many examples are given in the Bible concerning
such men as Jacob, David, and particularly Solomon, who is
said to have had 700 wives and 300 concubines. In fact, as
Westermarck says, it was so much the matter of course that
the law did not even criticize it. A man was allowed as many
wives as he was able to support. This practice was made pos-
sible for at least the wealthy and the rulers by the killing
of so many men in war and by the custom of slavery, which
appeared in the pastoral and agricultural stages of civiliza-
tion, especially in the Eastern countries. Polygyny is found
today in Turkey, Arabia, India, China, and even Japan. It
is also practiced among many African tribes and until very
recently was openly practiced among the Mormons of the
United States, who regarded it as a divine institution devised
in order more rapidly to populate the earth.

While polygyny has been permitted among savage and
barbarous peoples it has not been, and in fact could not be,
the universal custom, because of the almost equal number of
individuals of the sexes. But as in some countries an excess
of males caused by female infanticide and harsh treatment
of women resulted in polyandry, so in other countries an

166 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

excess of females caused by the greater mortality of males
iti war, the greater hardships incurred by primitive man in
hunting, the weaker vitality of the male in childhood, and
a larger birth-rate of girls as a result of favorable conditions,
produced polygyny. On account of expense harems were
necessarily possessed only by the rich and powerful classes,
who alone were able to support them. On the other hand
many of the lower classes were denied wives because of the
introduction of slavery and the inability of the poor to sup-
port them; so, on the average, when one man had more than
one wife, some other man was compelled to live without
one. The causes of polygyny were (1) self-indulgence of
males; (2) need of laborers, causing wives to be economic
assets; (3) superior influence in fighting of men with the
largest number of children and relatives, owing to the fact
that they could muster greater bands of warriors; (4) honor
brot to the men for prowess and craft as evidenced by the
number of captured women; and (5) augmented dignity of
the chiefs and leading men resulting from the addition of
wives to their retinues, harems thus being kept up for the
purpose of giving social prestige. So, being noble, this sys-
tem gained the sanction of religion.

IV. Monogamy. — As civilization advanced patriarchy
gave way to monogamy, for with the advance of civiliza-
tion slavery decreased and political, social, and industrial
equality constantly increased. One natural result of the
growth of liberty and freedom was the recognition of the
right of every man to become married and to have a home
of his own. Because of the almost equal number of males
and females monogamy became the only form of the family
long possible. Since freedom applied to woman as well as
man, woman demanded a right to have a voice in the making
of her home and her condition gradually became better. This
has helped to make monogamy the only form of the family that
modern civilization sanctions, altho other forms still prevail
in many parts of the world even to the present day.

Indeed the results of investigation not only show that
the other forms of the family led to monogamy but also point
more and more to the fact that monogamy has always been
the rule, that the marriage of single pairs with exclusive
cohabitation has been the general custom, and that all other
forms have been deviations from the rule. After all, the
greatest change as civilization has advanced has been in the

EVOLUTION OF THE FAMILY 167

strictness of enforcement. Altho at first monogamy was the
custom and rule, there was no power of control which enforced
it; in fact those in power who had the ability to enforce
it were the very pnes who violated the rule and hence did
not wish to make it compulsory.

V. Morgan's Classification. — Morgan in his "Ancient
Society" has developed an extremely interesting and ingenious
evolution of the family. Assuming a previous condition of
promiscuity he has worked out five different forms of the
family as follows:

1. Consanguine Family, or the inter-marriage of brothers
and sisters, own or collateral in a group; now extinct but
thot to have been once universal. He based his theory upon
the Malayan system found among the Maoris, Hawaiians,
and other Polynesians, which is the basis of the Chinese rela-
tionships. Only five relationships are recognized — parent,
child, grandparent, grandchild, brother and sister. Uncles,
aunts, and cousins are impossible to determine.

2. Punaluan, or the marriage of each of several sisters in
a group with the others' husbands or of each of several broth-
ers in a group with the others' wives, the marriage between
brothers and sisters being forbidden. This system has existed
in Europe, Asia, and America within historic times and in
Polynesia within the present century, especially among the
Hawaiians. Each man came to have a principal wife and
each woman a principal husband.

3. Syndiasmian, or the marriage (often temporary and
unexclusive as to cohabitation) of a single pair. This form
has been found among many .American tribes, especially the
Senecas, and among some of the peoples of India.

4. Patriarchal, a mode allowing to one man several wives;
generally accompanied with the seclusion of the wives. It
is a very common form in the Orient even today.

5. Monogamy, the marriage of single pairs with exclusive
cohabitation.

The latter two forms have already been more fully treated.
While suggestive this classification has not generally been
accepted among sociologists.

VI. Forms of Marriage. — No history of the family
would be complete without treating the evolution of marriage,
tracing the forms thru which it has passed and stating the
causes for them. Because this development has not always
coincided with the history of the forms of the family it has

168 INTRODUCTION TO THIS PRINCIPLES Of SOCIOLOGY

been omitted till now. The forms generally recognized have
been the following:

1 . \titural or Sexual Selection. — This was when man and
woman naturally selected each other and went to living
together solely by each other's charms. Because there was
no power to compel them to live together, the two remained
united only as long as each other's company was pleasing and
desired. This condition existed thruout the period of the
horde, if there was such a period, and thruout matriarchy.
But when the male began to assume the right to appropriate
his bride and to take her to his dwelling, this form of mar-
riage broke down and marriage by capture took its place;
then mother right (matriarchy) gave way to father right
(patriarchy).

2. Marriage by Capture. — McLennan thot that marriage
by capture arose from the rule of exogamy, according to which
a man was compelled to go outside of his group to obtain
a wife, for as his tribe was generally at war or on bad terms
with the neighboring tribes, he was compelled to capture
his bride. Others hold that marriage by capture grew out
of the capture of women in war. Still others think that the
men grew tired of the women of their own camp, seeing them
all the time, and for this reason were attracted by the women
of other tribes. The writer thinks that all these theories are
true to some extent, and also that the superior strength of
the male has had much to do with the prevalence of the cus-
tom. But whatever its origin it has played a great part
in the history of marriage and is even today practiced by
some savage tribes. Its former prevalence is shown or at
least strongly indicated by the ceremony of pretended capture
in marriage which is prominent in the marriage ceremonies
of many countries. In these countries the bridegroom, gen-
erally aided by his friends, sweeps down upon the dwelling
of the bride, as a rule according to some set custom, and
carries her off despite the pretended resistence of her friends.
In these contests she also pretends to put up a struggle no
matter how willing she is to be carried off. Some people
believe that certain marriage customs, such as the wedding
tour, are merely survivals of this custom. Altho there is no
direct evidence that it has existed among all races, marriage
by capture is generally supposed to have once existed among
nearly all peoples.

3. Marriage by Purchase. — Marriage by capture gave

EVOLUTION OF THE FAMILY 169

way to marriage by purchase for the simple reason that man
found it easier to buy a wife than to fight for one. Added
to this was the desire of the father to receive some compensa-
sation for the bringing up of his daughters, who left the
household almost as soon as they became economic assets.
At first marriage by purchase would have been impossible,
for there was no private property, but as progress was achieved
and private property came into existence, this obstacle was
removed. Cattle were the most common medium of exchange
because of their being in almost universal demand.

This change from the capturing of a wife to the buying
of one lowered the position of woman, for man thot more of
his wife when he fought for her than when he purchased her
for merely so many cattle. This produced the desire on his
part to realize on the investment; as a result woman became
a slave in her husband's household. Even if she was not
lowered to a position of slave, she became a mere chattel
and was prized only as an article of furniture. Sometimes
she was better treated if she cost a large sum, just as a
valuable animal would be well cared for, but this treatment
did not carry with it any higher position. In many coun-
tries man had the right to sell his wife again, and in some
he had the power of life and death over her. This was true
in early Rome where the lot of woman was terribly hard.
This practice of purchase was in vogue in nearly all ancient
nations and was especially practiced among the Greeks,
Hindus, Finns, Scandinavians, and Slavs. In modern times
it has been common among numerous people such as many
tribes of the American Indians, nearly all the tribes of Africa,
Tartary, and some of the islands of the Pacific and Indian
Oceans. Remnants are found among many nations which do
not practice it now in such customs as the giving of presents
by the bridegroom to the parents of the bride, found among
the Japanese. Often when a man did not have sufficient
wealth to buy a wife he would in lieu of payment work an
agreed upon time for her parents; the classic example is that
of Jacob who worked seven years each for Leah and Rachel.

In some localities where wealth accumulated, as in Rome,
instead of the fathers being paid for his daughter he gave
a dowry with her. But as the dowry usually belonged to the
daughter it gave her greater freedom and made her somewhat
independent of her husband. This custom frequently pre-
vailed in countries where a preponderance of females made

170 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES Of SOCIOLOGY

it difficult to marry them off. Sometimes this even took the
extreme form that unless this dowry was given the marriage
was not considered legal, the children would not be regarded
legitimate, and the woman would be treated little better than
a prostitute. This became the condition in Greece and Ger-
many to a great extent and to a certain degree in England.

4. Marriage by Consent. — Marriage by purchase was suc-
ceeded by marriage by consent. At first consent of only the
parents was necessary; sometimes the consent of the bride-
groom himself was not obtained. Such is the condition in
China t-ven today; the match is made by the parents thru
the services of professional matchmakers; and the parties to
be married submit without any protest. But in most coun-
tries the wishes of the man are considered and it is he that
generally gets the consent of the bride's parents. Sometimes
the match is arranged by the parents, tho often at the request
of the man. At first the wishes of the woman were not deemed
worthy of consideration; she undoubtedly, however, often
used her charms to attract the attention and win the love
of the man she preferred. The consent of the parents is
regarded as necessary in many of the highly civilized coun-
tries today, especially among the upper classes. Christianity,
however, has insisted that only the consent of the contracting
parties is necessary, and this has come to be all that is legally
necessary in the leading nations today.

YD. Three Distinct Stages Thru Which the Family
Has Passed. — 1 . Incomplete stage, as seen in the natural
family while passing thru the periods of the horde and of
matriarchy.

2. Completion of the natural family in patriarchy, where
the husband becomes the head of the family but at the cost
of subjection of the wife, who becomes almost a slave in her
husband's household.

3. The period where husband and wife are on equal legal
and moral planes, and where the marriage bonds are as strict
on the husband as on the wife. We have not fully reached
this stage but are fast moving towards it. This condition
has been brot about to a great extent by the influence of
Christianity, altho in some countries forces were already at
work in this direction.

VIII. Influence of Christianity. — Altho disputed by
some Christianity has done much to elevate the position of
woman and to raise the standard of the family. First it did

EVOLUTION OF THE FAMILY 171

away with polygamy, altho the Bible itself says little about
it. Before Christianity appeared the position of woman was
degrading, even to a great extent in highly civilized Greece
and Rome. Altho Donaldson, in his "Woman, Her Position
in Ancient Greece and Rome", gives little credit to it, Chris-
tianity has raised the position of woman from that of a slave
to that of a partner. Christianity has always stood for a
single standard of morality and has taught that the moral
responsibility of man is the same as that of woman, and altho
the Church has not as yet converted the world to this opinion,
it is rapidly doing so at the present time.

IX. Stability of Marriage. — The durability of the mar-
riage tie is another standard by which we can study the family.
As a rule divorce could be had among savages on slight pre-
texts, especially by the man. In some countries it was almost
impossible for the woman, for she had no legal rights; this
was generally true in countries where marriage by purchase
was the prevailing method. But the husband could send
away his wife whenever he cared to — perhaps simply because
he was tired of her — on the most frivolous grounds, or even
without giving any reasons at all. Sometimes, however, this
was not allowed when there were children. On the other
hand a few savage tribes, such as the Papuas of New Guinea,
the Veddahs of Ceylon, and the Massers of Batu, go to the
opposite extreme and maintain that the marriage relation
is absolutely insoluble.

Generally there was no formal divorce among savages;
either the wife left the husband or he made her leave. Among
more civilized peoples we find that divorce was allowed only
for certain fixed reasons, of which adultery, unfaithfulness,
barrenness, and cruelty have been the most common. Some
form of ceremony would be usually insisted upon, generally
the vote of the tribe or permission of the chief or ruler being
required; but the husband always obtained the divorce the
easier. In most instances both parties were allowed to
remarry, altho this was made harder for the woman than
for the man. Among the Hindus and Chinese even now it
is almost impossible for a woman to obtain the divorce. It
appears to have been almost universal for the woman who
was divorced or who put away her husband to return to her
own family, whose duty it was to receive her. In China
at the present time she cannot be divorced unless her family
is willing to receive her — a situation which seldom happens

172 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES Of SOCIOLOGY

because of the poverty of the people and the dislike for
women; unless it is certain that a new husband can quickly
be found for her.

Amnnn Mohammedans divorce is allowed; Christianity has
thrown its influence against it; the Roman Catholics forbid
tiling it "progressive polygamy". Protestants allow it,
however, for limited reasons. But today divorce is increas-
ing greatly in Christian countries, especially the United States.
This is largely owing to a change of attitude on the part of
Protestants in regard to it.

X. Position of Woman Under Different Religions.
-1. Brahmanism. — In India, under Brahmanism, by law
and custom a woman is married when a mere girl, sometimes
even being spoken for when she is in her cradle. She is
usually married to a man much older than she is, often to
one old enough to be her father. She is in theory and often
in practice a servant or rather a slave of her husband, not
even being allowed to eat at the same table or to cook her
food over the same fire. She is kept upon a low intellectual
plane, seldom being allowed to learn to read or write. Her
husband is her god; her hope in the future lies in the confi-
dent expectation of being able to serve her husband. For-
merly when he died she was burned on his funeral pyre.
When this custom (called suttee) was stopped by the English
government, widows became despised and isolated persons and
forbidden to remarry. A few years ago there were 23,000,000
such widows in India, many of whom were mere children,
eight, ten, and twelve years of age, too young even to know
what marriage meant; their unhappy lot the British govern-
ment has tried with some success to alleviate. In the temples
themselves in India women are kept for immoral purposes.
Female infanticide formerly was very common and, altho it
is now forbidden by the government, is yet practiced secretly
to some extent. In fact there are today 5,000,000 fewer
women in India than men, altho the harder lot of women
and the poverty of the country may account in part for this
difference.

2. Buddhism. — Under Buddhism woman enjoys a much
higher position than under Brahmanism, for altho she is looked
upon as an inferior she is treated well, especially in Siam.
There a boy generally marries at fourteen, a girl at twelve; if
a girl is not married at thirteen she is sold into serfdom.
While polygamy and divorce prevail woman is to a great

EVOLUTION of THE FAMILY 173

extent independent. In Japan her position is not, on the
whole, so good as in Siam; she is looked upon as an inferior,
whose duty it is to serve her husband. This inferior position
is shown often in the customs and ideals. Immorality is very
common and concubinage does much to break up home life.
The husband can easily divorce the wife; she can also obtain
a divorce but her children go to the husband. Christianity
has done much to elevate the position of woman in Japan;
immorality has been checked to some extent and infanticide
abolished.

3. Confucianism. — In China under Confucianism the con-
dition of woman is wretched. A girl is merely a slave and is
early given in marriage or sold if any one will buy her. She
never sees her husband till the time for the marriage cere-
mony; she goes to live in the family of her husband where
she becomes a slave; she never is given a chance to start a
new home. The man can divorce his wife, provided her
family will take her back, but the law recognizes no such
right for the woman. In youth the girl is a slave to her
parents; after marriage to her mother-in-law; in old age,
to her sons. Because of poverty female infanticide is great;
female suicide is common, altho the high price of the poisons
made from opium and the scarcity of green opium has now
made the luxury of a suicide almost prohibitive to the poor.
The Chinese woman is a drudge, constantly bearing children,
ceaselessly working, and finally adding to the number of
female suicides.

4. Mohammedanism. — Altho not generally abused, woman
holds a degraded position in all Mohammedan countries. While
her husband must provide for his wife, he can divorce her
for any reason; she has no such means of redress. Woman
is never looked upon by her husband as a companion, but as a
toy or plaything. Because of the prevalence of the old patri-
archal system woman is the slave of her mother-in-law. The
Koran permits four wives, but thru divorce a man can have
as many wives as he wants; he is permitted as many concu-
bines as he is able to support. The Mohammedan concep-
tion of Heaven includes woman to wait upon and serve man.
It is this sensual and degraded position of woman which has
counteracted the good effects of the Koran and has put all
the Mohammedan countries so low in the scale of civilization.

5. Judaism and Christianity.— While the ancient Jews
followed the patriarchal form of the family, the Jews were

174 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

the first people to allow marriage to be based merely upon
personal choice. Rights of woman developed among them at
a much faster rate than among other races. Christianity
addini; impi-tus to this development, has stood for the equal
rights of woman. Among Christian races we find respect,
and equality between husband and wife; the abolition
of polygyny and concubines; the diminishing of immorality
and impurity; the strengthening of marriage ties, and above
all the evolution of woman's individuality. These are among
the factors that have made the Christian nations the leading
nations of the world today.

XI. Conclusion. — In most of the Oriental countries
today the patriarchal form of the family is the prevailing one
and is merely the remnant of the state of affairs common
centuries ago. In Greece this took the form of seclusion;
the wife was uneducated and altho well treated physically
was not looked upon as a companion but merely as the keeper
of the home and the rearer of the children — and much of
this she turned over to slaves. Thus the position of woman
was degrading enuf altho not so bad as it was previously
in the nations of Asia. In early Rome woman occupied an
honorable position altho her lot was hard. In the later
Empire woman was freed largely from the restraint of the
patriarchal family but family ties became very lax and the
family very unstable; immorality simultaneously increased,
reaching terrible proportions in the later years of the Empire.
This was brot about largely by the destruction of the old
religion, the bringing in of vast wealth to Rome from all
parts of the Empire, and the change in political conditions.
Instead of advancing, Rome degenerated and crumbled.
During the Middle Ages we find the development of that
feudalism, when men spent their time fighting, pillaging and
drinking and left most of the work for the women to do.
This was followed by the period of chivalry which has been
sung and written about so much. But chivalry was an arti-
ficial condition that developed under knighthood. The knight
who would fight to the death to defend the honor of a woman
of gentle birth, or the nobility, thot nothing of ravishing
the daughter of the poor. In fact the daughters of the peas-
ants or serfs were looked upon by the nobles and landlords
as legitimate objects of prey. In Europe today woman occu-
pies a subordinate position differing in degrees in the various
countries; even in England she does not hold an equal posi-

EVOLUTION OF THE FAMILY 175

tion before the law. Divorce is made much harder for her
than for the man, and the double standard falls much heavier
upon her. In one or two countries she is given the voting
privilege but in general her position is much inferior to that
in the United States, especially in such countries as Russia,
Austria, Hungary, Spain, and Germany.

Woman is rapidly coming into a condition of equality with
man, and it is only a question of time until this principle
will be completely recognized. Progress is most evident in
education, business, social life and politics.

1 . Education. — It has been only a few years since people
were discussing the question whether it was worth while to
educate girls beyond enabling them to read and write. Later
the question was whether it was worth while to send them
to a secondary school; in some sections of our country the
value of such an education is hardly recognized even today.
Not long ago people were debating in regard to a college edu-
cation, and now the same question is being thrashed out in
regard to professional study, as medicine, law, or engineer-
ing, for women. Not many years ago women were first
admitted to our colleges; they are even today forbidden admis-
sion to a few of our largest universities and colleges. But in

'general we admit the principle of equal education for women.

2. Business. — During the past twenty-five or thirty years
woman has invaded the field of business and in the inferior
places which require accuracy and attention to details, as
stenographer, bookkeeper, secretary, cashier, etc;., she not only
has established herself but frequently has proved her superi-
ority to man. She is now attempting the more advanced
positions, as head of a department, manager, etc. But she
is meeting with greater difficulty in such positions because
of the high degree of fitness required and also because as
a rule man enters business as a life work while woman often
enters it in an amateur way, intending to follow it only a
few years, and looking towards matrimony as a goal. Then,
too, man has always shown greater executive ability and so
is better adapted to managing and supervising. However,
recently women are seen going into business for themselves;
they are generally successful in a small way but are too apt
to be over-conservative and hence not to branch out suffi-
ciently or to take the chances required to win great success.

3. Social Life. — In social life the position of woman is
becoming less artificial and more practical. She is no longer

176 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

placed upon a pedestal and worshipped simply because she
is a woman; she is now respected for what she is. She is
not excused simply on the grounds that she belongs to the
female sex, but is held responsible as a person able to decide
and reason things out. In short she is being worshipped less
and respected more. The old form of chivalry is rapidly
dying out; a new and higher form is taking its place. Woman
is being deferred to and waited upon less and less, but she
is given a greater chance to develop her talents to the best
of her ability.

4. Politics. — Woman suffrage has been ridiculed and
opposed in vain. It is now recognized by all careful students
of the question as not merely inevitable but as the only sane
outcome. Woman has to obey laws. Why not give her a
voice in making them? If she owns property she has to pay
taxes on it. Why not give her a voice in saying what those
taxes shall be? She is going into industry and fighting her
own way in the world, subject to the dangers and tempta-
tions of the world, to disease, to poor sanitation, to impure
milk supply, to bad housing conditions, etc. She has to live
amid these conditions, why not give her a chance to protect
herself? Woman suffrage will never bring the millenium;
but why should this be expected? It is not a question of
bringing in reforms, but of giving equal rights and privileges
to all who are entitled to them. The woman suffrage fight
has been won in the United States and many countries of
Europe and it* acceptance is being slowly accepted thruout
the world.

It is now being recognized that in the last analysis marriage
is a mutual attraction of the sexes; in order to make it a
success the .wife should be capable of meeting the husband
on an equal plane and of sharing his interests. When this
is accomplished, then happiness will be more certain; then
(and not till then) will the evolution of the family be accom-
plished.

READING REFERENCES

WESTERMARCK, EDWARD, History of Human Marriage. <
HOWARD, GEORGE E., History of Matrimonial Institutions, Vol. I.
GOODSELL, WILLYSTINE, The Family as a Social and Educational Insti-
tution.

DONALDSON, J., Woman. Her Position in Ancient Greece and Rome.
BOSANQUETTE, HELEN, The Family.
TWING, CHARLES F. AND CARRIE F., The Family.
STARCKE, C. N., The Primitive Family.

EVOLUTION otf THE; FAMILY 177

MORGAN, LEWIS H., Ancient Society, Part III.
MCLENNAN, J. F., Primitive Marriage.
DENSMORE, EMMET, Sex Equality.
TENNEY, A. A., Contrasts in Social Progress.
SALEEBY, C. W., Parenthood and Race Culture.

PARSONS, ELSIE CLEWS, The Family. DEALEY, The Family in Its Socio-
logical Aspects.

WARD, LESTER F., Pure Sociology, Chap. XIV.
CALHOUN, A. W., History of the American Family, three volumes.
SMITH, W. R., Kinship and Marriage in Ancient Arabia.
LOTT, Harem Life in Egypt and Constantinople, two volumes.
THOMAS, W. I., Sex and Society.
THOMAS, W. I., Source Book of Social Origins, Part IV.

CHAPTER X
PROBLEMS OF THE MODERN FAMILY

\Yhile the slavery and subjection of the wife in the home
has been abolished, the power of life and death of the man
over his wife and children made a thing of the past, and such
conditions as polygyny and polyandry done away with in
most civilized countries, there are still problems connected
with family life. These problems are different from the ones
of a thousand years ago, different even from those of fifty
ago; nevertheless they exist. They are constantly varying as
changes occur in the framework of our social fabric. In this
chapter we shall consider some of the most noticeable of our
present-day problems that concern the family.

Race Suicide. — A great deal of attention has been given
in recent years to the fact that the size of the families of our
native American stock has been constantly decreasing. Sta-
tistics go to prove such statements, as we found in our study
of birth-rates. The writer once made a sociological study
of an isolated section of Massachusetts. In three towns in
this community the average size of the families decreased
from 6.45, 6.54, and 8.24 persons respectively in 1765 to 5.83,
6.30, and 5.68 in 1905. Figures for the native population
throut the country show a similar tendency, that there is
everywhere a decrease in the size of the modern family, espe-
cially among the educated and cultured classes. In our
chapter on "Increase of Population" we considered the social
and economic reasons for this decline in birth-rate. Some
people look upon this decrease with alarm but others look
upon it with the hope that thru this means our standard of
living will keep on growing higher, that we shall rear with
greater care what children we have. As the size of the family
decreases we find that the death rate decreases, especially
among children. Fewer children die in infancy, because they
receive better care, more wholesome food, better clothing, and
more careful medical attention. The principal objection to
this seeming race suicide is that the people who have least

178

PROBLEMS OP1 THE MODERN FAMILY 179

need to restrict the size of their families are the ones
do it and the ones who can least afford large families are
the ones who still have them, being too ignorant or too shift-
less to limit the number of the children. We see laborers
who earn minimum daily wages possessing families of six and
eight children. We see these children insufficiently fed, thinly
clad, poorly housed, and at an early age forced into industry
and never given a chance to develop as they should. This
condition increases crime, vice, and poverty. If an outcry
against race suicide is started, the ones who ought to limit the
size of their families are the very ones who try to increase
them. Some oppose the idea of limiting families on religious
grounds, believing that we should continue to replenish the
earth and should not interfere with the plans of our Creator.
Such views are not held so much as formerly, for the world
already shows indications of soon being overpopulated ; it
is also conceived as possible that our Creator has given us the
knowledge to control the number of children. On the whole
this cry of race suicide does not attract nearly so much atten-
tion today as it did a few years ago. Some states even now,
however, try to prevent by law doctors from giving their
patients knowledge to prevent conception, but such laws are
reactionary and retrogressive.

Individualism. — We are living in an age of specializa-
tion. Each person must be able to do some one thing. This
specialization has spread to the home and has helped towards
the breaking down of home life. Formerly both parents were
at home, now the father is away a great deal of the time and
often the mother is also forced to go into industry; the chil-
dren are thus left to their own devices. In the homes of
the rich it is equally bad, for here the children are frequently
entrusted to the care of servants, the father being engrossed
with business cares and the mother with her social functions.
This is carried so far that some people go to the extent of
predicting the ultimate destruction of the family, saying that
it has served its part in civilization and is soon to be rele-
gated to the past. Such a view is of course too extreme. Yet
on the other hand we cannot go back to the old form of the
family, because we are not living under the same conditions
in which our fathers and grandfathers lived. Formerly the
girls in the home were held in restraint. In many sections
of our country a woman would lose her standing in society
if she even ventured to walk thru the country alone, and such

180 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

is the condition to a great extent in our Southern states
today. Possibly there was once the need of such provision
because of the dangers of a new country, and possibly such
conditions exist in the South today because of the presence
of the negro, but in general our country has reached so high
a stale of civilization that such restraint is wholly unneces-
sary. The place of woman in the past was in the home and
\\r hoar today the same argument harped on by the reac-
tionary element in our population; but such movements as
the woman's suffrage and feministic movements are rapidly
convincing the world that woman has an equal right to a
voice in every phase of our social life, that she has the right
to go into industry, to make her own living, choose a career,
and give them an equal voice not only in the control of the
children but also in all matters that affect the home. While
this argument may be perfectly valid and is now generally
so recognized, it presents difficulties of adjustment. Altho
we may be willing to admit that woman has just as valid a
right to swear, drink, and smoke as man, it nevertheless
offends us more when she does it, because we are not accus-
tomed to it. When a woman demands an equal right with
men to dine out of evenings unescorted or even to walk the
street of an evening unescorted, her meaning may be misun-
derstood and she may be in some places molested and even
insulted. Such are merely difficulties incidental to adjust-
ment to a new condition. Since from one-fourth to one-third
of the women in industry are married, the family problem
is increased. In time we shall get our bearings and become
accustomed to woman's going into industry, choosing a pro-
fession, insisting upon the continuance in that profession after
marriage, demanding a single standard of morality, and insist-
ing upon an equal share in the making and executing of our
laws. When we shall have reached such a stage we shall
no longer consider individualism a problem but shall wonder
why it took the world so long to be convinced. In the past
woman has not kept pace with her husband after marriage
but gradually slipped backward, and she does so to some extent
even today. This has been one condition that has stood in
the way of any movement tending to bring about a condi-
tion of equality. Man went out into the world, brushed up
against others, and in this manner kept his wits sharpened
and his horizon continually broadened. But woman, remained
in the home, doing the same old things day after day and

PROBLEMS or1 THE; MODERN FAMILY 181

meeting the same small number of people. Her work did
not end at five or six o'clock but continued long afterwards;
thus she has generally been deprived of time even to read
the daily newspapers, to say nothing of getting out into the
world and brushing up against other people; so she inevitably
fell back. This has been true even of college graduates,
for there is not always an incentive to cause them to continue
their studies. To the writer this problem of individualism
seems merely a temporary problem, one of adjustment, rather
than a permanent condition. It is merely the sign of prog-
ress. Modern improvements are making house work less a
drudgery. Such inventions as the vacuum cleaner, electric
iron, gas range, electric cookers, electric lights, and electric
washing machines make house work less difficult. The bakery
and canning factory save much cooking. Woman is thus
given more time for self culture. She is allowed to go out-
side into the world more and more, and, altho woman is
naturally more conservative than man, we can only look for
a higher condition to follow our present state of affairs. The
World War complicated this problem because of the great
increase of women in industry; at the same time it probably
hastened its solution by increasing the respect for woman
and by offering her greater opportunities.

Divorce. — When we come to the divorce question we
meet a problem which is much more serious than the two
that we have just considered, altho possibly less alarming
than many people believe it to be. The conditions are not
all bad, for often a divorce is a good thing in that it may
be a relief from a worse condition. If a couple simply cannot
live together happily and if life to both of them is torment, it
is best for them to separate. If there are children the seri-
ousness of the situation is increased, for their future has
to be considered, even more in fact than that of the parents.
And if the couple continue to live together the problem may
be still further complicated by the birth of more children.
The fact that we have such a thing as divorce is not the
alarming feature; it is rather in the great increase of divorce
in the United States; in truth there are more divorces granted
in the United States than in all the rest of the nations of the
civilized world. This became the case as early as 1885, as
is shown by the following figures for that year for the number
of divorces granted.

182 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

United States 23,472

France 6,245

Germany 6,161

Russia 1,789

Austria 1,718

Switzerland 920

Denmark 635

Italy 556

Great Britain and Ireland. __ 508

Roumania 541

Holland 339

Belgium 290

Sweden 229

Australia 100

Norway 68

Canada _ 12

This makes a total of only 20,131 divorces for all the other
nations as against 23,472 for the United States. The figures
for twenty years later, 1905, are still more impressive, as shown
as follows:

United States 67,976

Germany 11,147

France 10,860

.Hungary 5,785

Roumania 1,718

Switzerland 1,206

Beljnum 901

Holland _ 900

Italy (1904) 859

Great Britain and Ireland— 821

Denmark 549

Sweden 448

Norway 408

Australia 339

New Zealand 126

Canada _ 33

The United States has more than held its own, for against
less than 40,000 divorces for the rest of the civilized world
the United States had in 1905 nearly 68,000. The highest
divorce rate outside the United States was in Switzerland,
where there was one divorce to twenty-two marriages. In
France the ratio was one to thirty; in Germany one to forty-
four, and in England one to four hundred. In the United
States it was one to twelve. A few of our states, especially
the Western, showed a much higher rate, it being in Wash-
ington, Oregon, and Montana one to five; in Colorado and
Indiana one to six; in Oklahoma, California, and Maine one
to seven; and in New Hampshire, Arkansas, Texas, Missouri,
and Kansas one to eight. Some of our cities show rates as
high as one to four and one to three. The divorce rate for
the Western states in 1905 was more than four times that
of the North Atlantic states and almost four times that of
the South Atlantic states. This difference is owing largely
to the greater independence of woman in the Western states.

Rapid Increase in the United States. — Yet it is not
so much the fact that the United States leads the world in
the number of divorces granted but that the increase has been
so rapid in this country that furnishes the alarming feature.
In 1867, the first year for which divorce statistics are avail-
able, there were only 9,937 divorces granted in the United

PROBLEMS OP" THE MODERN FAMILY 183

States, while in 1906, the last year for which such statistics
are available, the number reached 72,062. In the twenty years
from 1867 to 1886 inclusive there were 328,716 divorces
granted, but in the next twenty years, or 1887 to 1906 inclu-
sive, the number reached 945,625. In the first period (from
1867 to 1886) the number of divorces increased 157 per cent,,
while the population increased but 60 per cent; in the second
period (from 1886 to 1906) the number of divorces increased
160 per cent, while the population increased but a trifle over
50 per cent. In other words divorce has increased three times
as fast as our population. Professor Wilcox estimates that
at our present rate of increase that in 1950 one-fourth of all
our marriages will end in divorce and that in 1990 one-half
of all marriages will end in divorce. Such a condition would
be dangerous to our civilization for it would inevitably cause
neglect of children, the breaking up of the home, immorality,
and an entire disregard for family ties. While such an increase
as Professor Wilcox suggests is logical, it is not at all prob-
able. We are now in a period of transition and we should
naturally expect a high divorce rate. In all probability it
will be only a matter of a few years till we reach the end of
this increase, altho we have not reached it yet. After we
have settled down to the new state of affairs and reach the
time when woman has as much to say about the choosing of
a mate and the management of the home as the man, then
we can perhaps look for a decrease, for we can naturally
expect that then unions will be made with greater care and
that as a result greater marital happiness will result. If
people were truly happy, they would not even need any mar-
riage bonds to hold them ; in fact they would continue to live
together if there were none.

Who Are Divorced ? — 1 . As we naturally should sup-
pose because of the greater strain upon family life, divorces
are granted much more frequently in cities than in rural
sections. This is not true, however, in some cities where
there are large numbers of immigrants, who have not as yet
adopted our customs and who too are more largely adherents
of the Roman Catholic Church. The liability of family fric-
tion is increased by cramped dwellings, nerve strain, financial
worry, opportunities to spend money, the inclination to seek
pleasure outside of the family circle, late hours, separation
during the most of the day, renting instead of owning homes,
especially furnished apartments, the buying of food in restau-

184 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

rants and delicatessens instead of home cooking, and other
urban conditions make it only natural that we find divorce
more common in cities than in the country.

2. We discover that divorce is four times as frequent in
homes that have no children as among families that have
them. Children give the parents something in common, some-
thing to love, somebody else to work for; thus they keep the
minds of the parents off themselves and lessen selfishness.
In fact the possession of children develops the finest qualities
of the human soul; parents endure things — even unhappi-
ness — for the sake of their children, being unwilling to spoil
their future. Then again, altho it is a fact seldom men-
tioned, childlessness may be a sign of previous unfaithful-
ness and immorality; the couple may not be able to have
children. This in itself would bring about unhappiness. If
a wife finds out that she cannot have children because her
husband sowed his wild oats years before, she naturally will
lose her love for him. Formerly she was blamed with bar-
renness, but nowadays she is able to find out the real reason.
Then families who are too selfish to have children are the
very ones who are too selfish to live happily together. So
the whole plight is only natural, a logical result of present-
day living conditions.

3. Religion plays an important part. Because the Koman
Catholic Church forbids divorce, we naturally find the fewest
cases among its adherents. Protestants say the least about
it and have practically no church laws forbidding it, so we
find them at the head of the list. The Jews follow the Prot-
estants. In sections where religious control is great we nat-
urally look for a lower divorce rate. Religion is, however,
playing a less important role in this respect than formerly.

4. Divorce is greater among native whites than foreign-
born whites because of the larger percentage of Roman Cath-
olics among the immigrants and because of the fact that the
newcomers have not yet adopted our ideas and customs.
Women among the immigrants endure things the native Amer-
ican woman would not think of enduring.

5. For the past forty years two-thirds of the divorces
have been granted to the wife. In former times it was the
husband who sought divorce, but now it is the wife. This
does not mean that the fault is two-thirds of the time with
the husband. If the divorce is agreed upon between them,
it is the wife who usually seeks it because of the greater

PROBLEMS OF" THE MODERN FAMILY 185

chance she has of obtaining it. Moreover modern laws in
the United States favor her more than the husband, allow-
ing divorce for cruelty, drunkenness, adultery, desertion, non-
support, etc., so it is harder for a man to get a divorce;
it is also a greater disgrace to the wife if the husband sues
for the divorce. Courts are much more lenient with women
than men. Because man is stronger he can be cruel if he
desires; it would be more difficult for the wife to be cruel.
It is also easier for a man to desert his family. The tempta-
tion to adultery and drunkenness is greater; so it is only
natural if he is the guilty party in the majority of cases. If
the home is unhappy, it affects the wife more, for she has
to live in it; the husband has the chance to be away much
of the time.

6. There are three great divorce centers, the Western
states, Rocky Mountain and North Central states, and New
England; this fact is caused by the greater development of
individualism and woman's rights in those sections, and also
by the greater economic indipendence of woman in those
localities. In the last few years there has been a great increase
of divorce in the Southern states, and we can expect a further
increase in that section.

7. As to occupation we find that the rate among farmers
is below normal. On the other hand actors, commercial trav-
elers, professional showmen, bartenders, musicians, physicians,
and telephone and telegraph operators furnish far above the
average number according to occupation. Where the occu-
pation brings with it greater strain upon the family ties we
find greater divorce rates. Also those occupations which
attract temperamental persons such as actors and musicians
naturally furnish a high divorce rate.

Grounds for Divorce. — It must be clearly understood
that there is a difference between grounds for divorce and
causes of divorce. By grounds we mean the legal bases upon
which divorce may be obtained. These need not be neces-
sarily the reasons; the real reasons may never be disclosed
in the court room, and frequently are not. In all there are
thirty-six different grounds for divorce recognized by the
laws of the^ various states, ranging in number from one (adul-
tery) in New York to fourteen in New Hampshire. While
some states grant divorce on trivial grounds, such as incom-
patability of temper, more than half of the divorces are
granted for such grave reasons as desertion, adultery, cruelty,

186 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

imprisonment for crime, habitual drunkenness and non-sup-
port ; ninety-five per cent of the divorces are granted on these
grounds. The following statistics will give a better idea of
the importance of the various grounds. Figures are for the
years from 1887 to 1906.
Grounds of Divorce Per Cent % to Men % to Women

Desertion 39.9 49.4 33.6

Adultery 20.0 28.7 10.0

Cruelty — 10.5 27.5

Drunkenness 5.0 1.1 5.3

Non-support 3.8

For these data it will easily be seen that the fault is not
so much with the laxity of our laws as with the decay of our
family life. While drunkenness is given in a few cases, it
has figured as a contributing cause in one-third df the divorces
granted to the wife for cruelty and in one-fifth of the non-
support cases and an indirect cause in 18.3 per cent of the
divorces granted to the wife. The reason why adultery is
given by the man more frequently than by the wife is that
our double standard of morals makes it more difficult to
secure evidence against the man than against the woman.
Since 1867 adultery as a ground for divorce has decreased
from 15.6 per cent to 15.3 per cent. On the other hand the
number of divorces granted for cruelty and non-support has
doubled.

The fact that divorce has increased does not necessarily
mean that family life is less happy or less successful than
it ever has been. It means rather that more is demanded,
especially by the wife. Conduct which was formerly over-
looked is now considered sufficient grounds for divorce. The
wife demands not only chastity and freedom from excessive
abuse on the part of the husband, but also a partnership in
the family for herself. The husband also demands self-sac-
rifice and loyalty. While formerly man and wife expected to
live together, now they demand that they be able to live
together happily. The general spread of education makes
this demand all the more important. We are living on a
higher moral plane than in the past and the increase in
divorce is merely an evidence of it.

Causes for the Increase in Divorce in the United
States. — The question arises, why has the United States
such a high divorce rate? What is there about our civiliza-
tion which works havoc with the stability of our family ties?

187

Some of the reasons underlying this condition are undoubtedly
the following:

1. High Standard oj Living Required in the United States*
-The demand for not only the necessities of life but for

comforts as well, altho thoroly desirable, brings about fric-
tion. It tends to limit the size of families, hence produces a
greater risk of unhappiness. Women today are not contented
unless they receive the comforts and often the luxuries of
life. When these are impossible, disappointment ensues; too
often this leads to the divorce court. The higher standard
of morality and family life in general also leads to dissatis-
faction.

2. Increased Cost of Living. — An increase in the finan-
cial strain is closely joined with the high standard of living
now demanded. Worry over finances brings about friction.
Wages are slower to increase than prices, so often while the
expenses are increasing the income is stationary. This prob-
lem is accentuated when the husband does not take his wife
into partnership with him in regard to the finances; when
as a result she does not understand this financial strain, she
does not appreciate the worry of the husband. Too often
the wife, ignorant of true values, is consequently extravagant
and not worthy to be taken into partnership if her husband
so desires. Girls are too little trained to recognize the real
value of money; not having to earn it, they do not know
how to spend it. Formerly the wife left financial matters
to the husband, now she is demanding an equal voice in the
financial management, but very often she is not capable of
handling finances wisely. This causes friction and is one
reason for the increase in the number of divorces granted
for non-support and desertion.

3. Growth of Modern Industrialism. — The new industrial
system has made it possible for women to obtain employment
and thus become independent. This condition has tended
to break up the home. When the wife enters industry, the
home is disrupted and little attention is paid to taking care
of the household. The wife does not have the time to pre-
pare the meals or to keep the house tidy. Consequently the
home is less attractive. Then, too, when girls enter indus-
try, they neglect to learn domestic arts; so when they marry
they do not know how to cook, sew, take care of children,
or keep house; of course the home becomes uninviting and
married life unsuccessful.

188 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES Of SOCIOLOGY

4. Growth of Individualism. — This already considered as
a problem of the family, has tended to increases family jeal-

•ousy, especially if the wife is also a breadwinner and is econom-
ically independent of the husband. Included in this heading
might be given the feminist and woman suffrage movement,
which are evidences of a change to which we have not as
yet adjusted ourselves.

5. The Rapid Growth of Cities. — As has been shown the
movement of population to the city has undoubtedly been
one of the reasons for the increase in divorce, for it has
increased the chances for clash and has so tended to break
up home life.

6. Late Marriages. — Postponement of marriage lessens the
possibility of happiness. Not only do women become self-
supporting and thus economically independent, but those who
marry late in life find it more difficult to adjust themselves
to the new relationship. After people pass the age of thirty
their habits become solidified; it is very difficult for them
to change views and customs. They become accustomed to
having things just so and think that their happiness depends
upon having them just so. If they married before these habits
had become fixed, the man and woman might easily adjust
themselves to each other. This condition seems to be grow-
ing worse: the time required for preparation for a professional
career is constantly lengthening. After four years in high
school the student requires four more for college, then three
or four for the professional school. Even with the combina-
tion of these latter two periods in the modern university six
years are required to prepare for law and seven or eight for
medicine, and then that is not all, for it takes from one to
three years for one to become established. For medicine,
one or two years in a hospital are generally considered to
be necessary; then one or two more to acquire a practice.
As it works out, the ordinary professional man has reached
the age of thirty or is approaching near it before he can
think of getting married. This situation lessens the chances
of happiness. At present we can see no remedy for this con-
dition. Possibly the future will reveal one by which couples
may marry and then continue their studies.

7. Decay of Religion. — We perhaps ought rather to say
that, instead of the decay of religion, the decay of religious
control has been a factor in causing divorce. While in the

PROBLEMS OF THE MODERN FAMILY 189

belief of the writer religion is not decaying by any means but
is growing purer and loftier, the control of the church is
decreasing. Religion is becoming more and more a personal
matter. Marriage is being considered less and less a relig-
ious ceremony. The various churches are preaching less urg-
ently against divorce. It is not now considered so much
a violation of divine command as it was formerly.

8. Increased Knowledge of the Law. — Formerly people
did not know that they could be freed from marriage bonds;
now they know that they can. Hence many who a few gen-
erations ago would not have thought about divorce now seek
separation. There is less fear or awe of the courts now than
formerly; the press and popular magazines have familiarized
the common people with the legal processes. Hence divorces
are more often sought.

9. The Granting of Divorce on Trivial Grounds. — This
along with the lax enforcement of the laws that we have, due
to tie change in public opinion and the increased laxity of
the public mind the gravity of marriage and divorce, is con-
sidered by many as a prominent cause of divorce increase.
Some point to Canada and England as examples of countries
where divorce laws are strict and where as a result there are
few divorces. This phase of the question has probably been
exaggerated. The increase of divorce is due more to the
breaking down of home life than to the laxity of our laws.
Some point to the lax laws of a few states, especially Nevada
and assert that people rush to such states for divorce; but this
rush is exaggerated, for few go outside of their own state to
be divorced; in fact, only about one-fifth of the divorces are
granted outside of the state in which the couple was married.
If courts are lax it is because public opinion to a large extent
demands or at least allows that laxity. Often our courts
are overburdened with work and cannot give a divorce case
the attention that should be given it, as evidenced by the fact
that the average time allowed for a divorce case is something
like fifteen minutes. At any rate divorces are exceedingly
easy to obtain, possibly too easy.

On the whole the United States, with its varied life, hustle
and bustle, high nervous tensions, changing climate, and rapid
growth of cities and industry, may be a country in which
we should naturally expect to find a high divorce rate, and
after all our condition may not be nearly so abnormal as

190 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

one would think at first glance. Being in the transition
stage that we are, we need not be at all alarmed that we
have such a high divorce rate. The danger will come, how-
if divorce keeps on increasing and if in the course of
a few years it bids fair to come up to the estimate of Pro-
fessor Wilcox. If it brings with it an increase in immorality
such as it did in Rome and if family relations become lax,
then there will be cause for alarm. As yet that condition
has not appeared in this country. Immorality is not so fre-
quent as it was fifty years ago, when we had few divorces.
The moral condition in this country is constantly growing
better.

Kesults of Divorce. — Some of the results of divorce are
noticeable, such as the increase in juvenile delinquency. A
child needs the care and attention of both parents, and when
the home is broken up it does not get them. Sometimes
it is better for the child if the parents separate than if they
live in a state of constant quarreling and fighting; but when
we come to examine the conditions in the families from
which come the inmates of our reform schools and the chil-
dren who appear before the juvenile courts, we find that the
majority of these unfortunates come from homes that have
been broken up. Professor Ell wood in an investigation made
in 1909 found that of the 7,575 children in thirty-four state
reform schools 29.6 per cent came from families in which there
had been a divorce or desertion; 33 per cent in which one
of the parents was dead; and 38 per cent from homes demor-
alized by drink, vice, or crime. Only a few came from homes
that were perfectly normal. Of 4,278 children investigated
in four juvenile courts 23.7 came from homes in which there
had been divorce or desertion, while 27.8 per cent came from
homes in which only one parent was living or both parents
were dead. The same was true of inmates of homes for
dependent children, for in the thirty-two institutions investi-
gated it was found that 24.7 per cent of the children were
from homes in which there had been divorce or desertion;
47.5 per cent had lost one or both parents. In short it requires
the care of more than just one parent to bring up a child
and produce a normal, well-rounded adult. When broken
into the family fails in its function; then some other insti-
tution, such as the juvenile court, has to step in to perform
the function of the family.

PROBLEMS OF THE MODERN FAMILY 191

If the fault caused by breaking up of a family is not cor-
rected by the juvenile court or some other institution, the
child drifts into ways that are worse than ever and instead of
appearing before the juvenile court he arrives in the adult
court and goes to the penitentiary, thus swelling the number
of criminals. It has also been the rule in history for immo-
rality to follow lax family conditions, and while immorality
is on the decline in the United States at present, it might
decrease still faster if we held ourselves to a plane of high
family morality.

Remedies Suggested. — Since the trouble arises from the
decay of family life, it is difficult to suggest remedies. There
is no one cause that we can trace out and put our finger on;
the causes are too numerous and the trouble too deep rooted
to be weeded out by any legal action or by any one program
of action. Some people even go to the opposite extreme and
say that the fault is not with divorce but with the family
as an institution, that instead of limiting divorce we should
make divorce absolutely free and allow any couple to sepa-
rate if they care to and that it is a greater crime to compel
a couple to live together unhappily than to allow them to
separate. While there is a great deal of truth in this view-
point it is a dangerous policy to advocate, for the practice
of it would merely cover up immorality and put the cloak of
decency and law upon all forms of vice and sexual laxity.
It would rob the marriage bond of its sacredness. As stated
previously the source of the trouble is not altogether with
our laws or lack of them; however, some laws might be
steps in the right direction and might be advantageous even
if they did not solve the problem. Among legal measures
often suggested are the following:

1 . A Universal Marriage and Divorce Law. — Instead of
each state having a different code there should be one Federal
code to cover the whole country. Under our present condi-
tion if a couple cannot obtain a divorce in one state, they
can move into another; if they cannot marry in their own
state all they have to do is to cross a state border. This is
especially true with marriages under the legal age and with
marriages after divorce. Some states forbid marriage for
one or two years after divorce. In such conditions the couple
go to a state which does not put such obstacles in Cupid's way.
This condition lowers the prestige of the law as well as degrades

192 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

the sanctity of marriage. It is argued that marriage and
divorce are national questions rather than state ones. Yet
there are objections to such a code. Conditions are differ-
ent in the various states and what might be fair and just
in West Virginia might not be in Massachusetts, and what
might be needed in New York might be just the opposite in
California. Then, too, if such a code should be drafted, at
best it would only be an average code. Some states have
high codes and others do not, and a code which would be
accepted by the majority would be only an average one,
and would lower the standard upheld in some states. On the
whole a uniform marriage and divorce code, provided a really
high code could be adopted, would probably be a step in the
right direction, but it would be very difficult to get such a
code adopted. It is more a question of practice than of
theory.

2. Court of Domestic Relations. — Another reform meas-
ure which is meeting with popular favor and which is being
adopted in our large cities is that of a court of domestic
relations. Such a court has a special judge who gives all
his or her (such a judge is frequently a woman) time to
domestic cases; all divorce cases and suits involving family
troubles come before this court. Its machinery is directed
especially to the handling of this type of work. Time is
taken to look into the cases, and instead of trying to dispose
of them by granting the divorce in the shortest possible man-
ner the court tries to remedy the trouble, and if possible recon-
cile the husband and wife and induce them to try to live
together. Very often the cause is trivial and can be easily
remedied; in fact a large percentage of the cases coming
before the Domestic Relations Court of Chicago are settled
out of court, the cases being dropped from the docket. One
objection to such a remedy is that it often comes too late
to do any good, the case not being brot into court until
the breach has been widened beyond repair. In close con-
nection with the method is the practice of hiring a divorce
proctor, whose duty it is to inquire carefully into the family
life of the applicants for divorce in order to see if there is
any fraud, to ascertain whether the grounds given in the
application are really the true causes, and to find out if
there is any collusion between the husband and wife, such
as the husband leaving home for a time suffcient to form

PROBLEMS OF THE MODERN FAMILY 193

legal grounds for divorce for desertion. In Kansas City, such
a proctor cut down the number of divorces granted 30 per
cent. Such remedies do an unlimited amount of good in
checking the granting of divorces for trivial reasons and in
preventing the unnecessary breaking up of homes; they do
not however get at the roots of the problem. They cannot
stop marital unhappiness, which is the real problem. They
are measures for the alleviation of the trouble, they do not
prevent the causes that produce the problem. Their use
should be extended, but they should not be relied upon to
solve the difficulty.

3. Restricting the Grounds for Divorce. — Those advo-
cating such a measure would make divorce harder to obtain
by decreasing the number of recognized grounds thru limiting
them to the five or six most serious, i. e., adultery, crime,
cruelty, drunkenness, desertion, and non-support. While this
restriction might compel a higher standard, it would not solve
the problem; it would merely cover it up. It would be like
easing the pain of a broken leg without trying to set the bone.

4. The Requirement of a Stated Time Before Remarriage.
- The requirement of an intervening period of one or two

years before remarriage would put a damper on trying to
obtain a divorce in order to marry somebody else. If in
alliance with such a provision the divorce was not made com-
pletely operative till a year or two after being granted and
became null and void if the couple decided to live together
again, it would give the couple a chance to reconsider arid
would make reunion less troublesome and less spectacular.
Such requirements are all very well, but they do not solve
— they merely alleviate. They would undoubtedly remedy
a few cases but not many.

5. The Placing of Restrictions Upon Marriage. — The for-
bidding of marriage to those afflicted with venereal disease,
to defectives, to those exhibiting too great differences in age
or race, to immature persons, and to persons with insufficient
means — such restrictions deal with the real source of trouble,
the marriage of those unfitted for each other. The solution
is in the prevention of unwise mating of people rather than
in the separation of those already mated. A few states have
such laws today, particularly those laws requiring a medical
examination before marriage and those forbidding the mar-
riage of insane and feeble-minded. Also most states forbid

(F)

194 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

the marriage of the very young without parental consent.
It is to the extension of such laws that we must look for our
greatest reform. But in this regard public opinion is stronger
than law. If we have the laws without public opinion back
of them, they will become dead letters; on the other hand
if public opinion demands these regulations strong enough,
there will be little need of such laws. It is this public opinion
which needs our attention and fostering. We do not put
enuf stress upon the importance and real meaning of mar-
riage; we too often rush into it without any thot of the future,
merely being captivated by a pretty face, a fat pocket-book,
or a dashing manner. If people moved towards marriage
less hastily, made more careful plans for the future, and
really understood the partners they had chosen for life, there
would be fewer people rushing to the divorce courts.

6. Moral Education. — It is to moral education that we
must look for our greatest remedy of the divorce evil. Habits,
customs, and ideals are the results of public opinion; public
opinion can be molded by education, not by laws. Laws are
merely the reflections of public opinion, not the creators of
it. It takes time and advertising to build up public senti-
ment. The press, magazines, lectures, books, churches, and
schools have to be brot into use. And it is thru such mediums
that we must look for the solution of this problem just as
for the solution of any other problem. There are causes
and reasons back of problems, and these have to be consid-
ered and dealt with. The present divorce evil is merely the
reflection of a disorganized home. This disorganized home
is largely the result of a readjustment to new conditions, the
change from the remnant of the old patriarchal family to
the family of partnership, love, and co-operation. As soon
as the public becomes educated to this change, gets accustomed
to it, and prefers it to any other condition, then the divorce
.problem will dwindle away. If marriage is based upon mutual
love and appreciation and the home is held together by sym-
pathy and co-operation, there will be less desire for separa-
tion. Under our present conditions divorce is not necessarily
bad. If the home is unhappy and the real functions of the
family impossible, it is often a blessing to break up that
home. While children complicate the situation, it is impos-
sible to forbid divorce to those having children; it would be
absurd to have one standard for the families with children

PROBLEMS OF THE MODERN FAMILY 195

and another for those who are childless, for the establishment
of such a distinction would merely put a premium upon child-
lessness. Efforts should be made to limit divorce to those
cases where family ties are irretrievably broken. Divorce
should be discouraged rather than encouraged. The teach-
ing of domestic science and education for parenthood should
be encouraged in our public schools. The church instead of
preaching against the sins of divorce should try to remedy
the conditions that cause it. The spread of the knowledge
of venereal diseases, the stamping out of vice, the abolishing
of the liquor traffic, extension of the work of visiting nurses,
remedying the causes of poverty and crime, in fact the exten-
sion of all the agencies which are working for a purer and
nobler life and a loftier and more efficient civilization — such
should be the program of those craving better family rela-
tionships. The schools, the churches, and all altruistic organ-
izations should struggle to carry out such a program rather
than to bring about legislative reforms. Let them create a
spirit of altruism in the public mind; then the problem will
solve itself.

Family Income. — In our study of the divorce problem
we found that difficulties centering in the family income
formed one of the leading causes of divorce. We shall find
the same facts operative in other problems, not only those
of poverty and crime, but also those of immorality, drunk-
enness, and sickness. The family income fixes the standard
of living, affects the health of the entire family, and deter-
mines the size, convenience, healthfulness and location of
the house in which the family lives. Because it determines
the amount and quality of food, it affects the physical stamina.
It does likewise for the clothing worn, in regard not only to
the style and cut but to the quantity and comfort. It fixes
the amount of education the children obtain, whether they
can go on to high school, college, or fitting school, even whether
they can go to school at all; or whether they will be forced
into industry in order to add to the income. It decides
whether the mother may remain at home or must go into
industry to supply the deficiency in the husband's income.
It provides — or fails to provide — the health, wealth, pleas-
ures, prosperity, and efficiency not only of the present gen-
eration but that of the future generations as well. It deter-
mines whether or not the next generation will be stunted

196 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

physically, mentally and morally. If the father cannot earn
enuf for the family and if the wife and young children are
forced into industry, the very purpose of the home is defeated.
Various estimates have been made as to the income neces-
sary for maintaining the standard of decency required of
the average family in different parts of the United States.
It was estimated in 1913 that an income of $800 a year was
required to enable a family to live in the stock-yards district
of Chicago. The street-cleaning department of New York
a little later estimated that at least $840 a year was needed
for a member of that force to support the average family of
five. It was also calculated that for a family to live before
the war in the average small town of about 5,000 popula-
tion an income of $600 a year was necessary. All of these
ratings were probably fairly accurate. Yet how many
unskilled men were able to earn even the $600 necessary
to live in the average small town? The wage for day labor
ranged from $1.25 to $2.50 a day and on the average was
about $1.75 or $2.00 per day, depending upon the demand in
the town. If the laborer earned $2.00 a day and worked on

an average 250 days a year an extremely high average

— he failed to make the $600 required. This meant that the
extra $100 had to be earned by the wife or children, or the
family did without, unless the husband was able to earn part
of it by means of a garden or some other home industry. The
average wage in the stock-yards district of Chicago was not
far from $7.50 a week, and if the worker was employed forty
weeks in a year — a high average again — he could earn only
about $300 of the requisite $800. These illustrations are
merely taken at random. The same condition existed every-
where. The white worker in the South could not earn a
living wage. The railroads of this country before the war
did not pay living wages to their section hands; the mills of
our manufacturing cities did not pay their common help enuf
to support families. The department stores did not give their
clerks sufficient even to support themselves. The wife of the
average laboring man was compelled to supplement her hus-
band's income by going into a factory, working for her neigh-
bors, taking in washing, or some such means. This meant
that she could not attend to home duties as she should, and
that the children were neglected. It meant also that the
children did not have any opportunity to better their con-
dition. It showed that there was something vitally wrong

PROBLEMS OF THE MODERN FAMILY . 197

with our whole industrial system if we would not allow the
laboring man to earn enough to support a family in decency;
yet such was the condition under normal times. This mat-
ter of income affects not only the laboring man but nearly
all classes. It is often just as hard for a professional man
to make both ends meet according to the standard demanded
of him as it is for the laboring man. The minister who
received only $600 a year and the university instructor who
received but $1,000 had as big a problem as the laboring
man with $2.00 a day. Yet such salaries have been quite
common. Many ministers have received less than $600 and
many of the presidents of our leading universities have been
shortsighted enuf to offer instructors but $900 or $1,000
a year, and as a result have often seen their best trained
men leave them to go to smaller institutions or into other
work. The ethics of offering a minister a salary of $500
or $600 a year or a university instructor one of $900 or
$1,000 seems about on a par with that of the department
store superintendent who would offer the salesgirl a salary
of $5 or $6 a week and when she would complain that she
could not live on it would ask her if she did not have a gen-
tleman friend to help support her; or still more perhaps to
the superintendent that would boast that his store employed
only girls who lived at home. For such salaries absolutely
forbid the professional man to support a family on the stand-
ard required of him. It meant that he was forbidden to
marry, or -if he married that he was compelled to live a life
without children. Yet our churches and universities were
supposed to teach morals and ethics. At the same time they
have contributed to some of the problems that society has
been trying to solve.

All the estimates just given were made under normal times
before the Great War. During the war prices of practically
all commodities rose, some of course going higher than others,
but the cost of living practically doubled, in fact in some
places went considerably higher. So if the estimates given
above for a minimum standard of living in different sections
of the country and in different industries were doubled, the
result would not be far from the condition of affairs in the
latter part of 1919 and the early part of 1920. At that time
$1200 would probably have been an extreme minimum for
a working man's family in the average town in the United
States. In some places where food was abundant and rent

198 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

did not advance very much a man could possibly support a
family on less, but in many places more would be necessary.
For a professional man or any representative of the so-called
"middle class" $1800 would have been possibly a conserva-
-timate of the necessary minimum.

To meet the increase in prices, wages in many industries
went up in proportion. In some lines, especially the muni-
tion factories and those industries engaged in war work, wages
more than met the advances. In many others wages were
much slower to rise and for a long time in many lines did
not advance at all. Business men took advantage of the
shortage of .commodities and the extra, general demand and
increased their earnings, in many cases at an enormous rate.
On the other hand professional men and those engaged on
salaries were perhaps the hardest hit of all, for their salaries
did not increase in proportion to the increase in prices. In
some lines they did not advance at all because of the decrease
in demand; this was especially true of teachers until the war
was over. In other professions salaries increased but slightly
until towards the end of the war or after it. In general the
wages of working men in factories and in industry just kept
up with increased prices; salaries did not do so.

After we settle down to normal times again, an equilibrium
will be reached, but it will be a new equilibrium. Many
prices will be higher, some will possibly be lower. Income,
on the other hand, will be different, depending upon the new
valuation placed by society upon various kinds of work.
During the war emphasis was placed upon mechanical work,
and professional services were not valued £O highly. After
normal times return, a new set of valuations will be worked
out. Prices and incomes in general will settle, probably not
at the old level, but somewhere lower than the high water
mark of 1920. Possibly they will finally stop about halfway
between the condition existing before the war and that of
1920. Conditions in 1920 are too irregular to be given as
typical; those before the war are thus quoted because they
are typical of a long period of normal times.

Spending of Incomes. — In many ways the spending of
of an income is more important than the earning of it. Many
families receive enuf but do not know how to spend wisely
what they earn, wasting too much on useless purchases, such
as liquor, tobacco, bargain sales when the articles bought are
not needed, cheap cloth, cheap food (or rich food) and extrav-

PROBLEMS OF THE MODERN FAMILY 199

agant commodities. Some people always manage to get one
hundred cents out of every dollar; others are able to get but
fifty or sixty. Some people always pay more than others for
the same thing. If our schools took up the teaching of real
values and fair prices of ordinary articles, it might be of great
help. Our settlements are taking up this work, and the vis-
iting nurses are endeavoring to teach families how to spend
their money. We see this difference in spending ability show-
ing in all walks of life. Perhaps the college community fur-
nishes as good an example as any other place. Some students
manage to get thru college on one-half or one-third the amount
of money others require and seem to have as much to show
for it in the end, and often even more. Few college students
know how to spend money wisely, especially if they can get
an ample supply from home and do not have to worry about
earning it.

Family Budgets. — Several different methods of ascertain-
ing family expenditures have been adopted with varying
degrees of success. Some of these are:

1. The Le Play method, originated by a French sociolo-
gist who would go to the community to be studied and live
with a family which he had selected as a representative family.
While living there, by means of questioning the family and
the neighbors he would find out what the family spend as
nearly as he would be able to do so; learn what each article
of furniture, each purchase of food, clothing, or fuel cost;
what was spent for amusements, tobacco, intoxicants, and sun-
dries. Usually it would take him a month to find out all
these matters. While intensive and thoro, such a method
might not be correct, for the family might not be a repre-
sentative one and the answers given might not be correct. It
also requires a great deal of time.

2. The Biicher Method. — Biicher, a German sociologist,
adopted the method of asking a few carefully chosen families
to keep an account of their expenditures for a period of time.
Then these would be taken and averaged or made use of in
some way. One objection to such a system is that the cer-
tain families selected or in fact all families able to keep accur-
rate accounts might not be typical families.

3. The University of Chicago Plan. — What is known as
the University of Chicago plan has been used in the stock-
yards of Chicago. This is an intensive system, going into

200 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

details. It tries to find out exactly what is spent for each
article of food and clothing and in fact every purchase of
the family, classifying under different headings the cost of
the clothes for each member of the family, the number of
pounds of meat at so much a pound, the amount spent on
car-fare, amusements, cooking utensils, etc. It of course
requires the services of a trained investigator. By the use
of the University of Chicago Settlement this plan has been
very successfully used in Chicago; one hundred typical fam-
ilies were selected at one time for study; they were asked
to keep their accounts in a certain Way for a certain length
of time, and because of their respec't for the settlement and
for Miss McDowell the head of that settlement, they were
generally willing to do this. Under favorable conditions where
the co-operation of the families can be obtained and trained
investigators are used, this plan is very successful. The
United States Government employs a method very similar
to this only more extensive and less intensive. Such budgets
are necessary in enabling us to find out anything definite in
regard to a standard of living.

The following is a table of necessities which must be pro-
vided for in the budget of every family maintaining a proper
standard and for which the income must be sufficient.

I. Physical Needs.

1. Food, sufficient in quality and quantity to keep
up efficiency.

2. Clothes, sufficient to provide warmth, decency,
and the degree of style required to enable one
to hold one's place in the group.

3. Rent, to provide for a house of adequate space
allow separation of the sexes, pure air, ventila-
tion, and a location satisfactory as to drainage,
sanitation, and healthful environment.

4. Fuel, to supply proper warmth.

5. Light, for reading purposes.

6. Medical attention, including that of dentist and
occulist if necessary — not only for sickness but
for prevention. As health increases the amount
needed for this purposes decreases.

7. Recreation, variable in amount and kind, but
sufficient to relieve the strain of life.

PROBLEMS OP1 THE MODERN FAMILY 201

8. Insurance, not as a luxury but as a necessity.
Provision must here be made for sickness, acci-
dent, and unemployment. There are two meth-
ods of doing this — savings and insurance.
II. Culture Needs, Sufficient to Fit for Life.

1. Education, at least for every child during school
age.

2. Technical education, to teach necessary trade
or profession.

3. Adult culture, to permit keeping up with the
time to some extent.

Few people consider before marriage this proposition of
budgets; possibly it is for the best, for if the problem of living
were investigated many would not marry. But if it were con-
sidered more, there would be less poverty and misery to deal
with. Of course the people who should consider it the most
never do, and the ones who would get along satisfactorily
any way are the ones who give it the most careful consid-
eration. But that condition is true of every phase of life;
those who need warnings never heed them.

A popular magazine1 recently gave the following interesting
set of family budgets for a family consisting of husband,
wife, and two children under ten years of age. '

Six HUNDRED DOLLARS A YEAR

Rent at $9.00 a month $108.00

Heat 50.00

Food, kerosene and laundry supplies 286.00

Clothes 94.50

Savings and insurance 20.00

Developmental 20.00

Incidentals _ 21.50

$600.00
NINE HUNDRED DOLLARS A YEAR

Rent at $15.00 a month $180.00

Heat 65.00

Light at $1.00 a month 12.00

Food and laundry supplies at $6.50 a week 338.00

Clothes 150.00

Savings and insurance 75.00

Developmental 50.00

Incidentals _ . 30.00

$900.00
^Ladies Home Journal, November, 1914.

202 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES Of SOCIOLOGY

TWELVE HUNDRED DOLLARS A YEAR

Rent at $20.00 a month $240.00

Heat 7S-0°

Light at $1.50 a month 18.00

Food and laundry supplies at $7.00 a week 364.00

Clothes 225.00

Savings and insurance 125.00

Developmental 100.00

Incidentals 53.00

$1200.00
FIFTEEN HUNDRED DOLLARS A YEAR

Rent at $22 a month $264.00

Heat 80.00

Light at $1.75 a month 21.00

Food and laundry supplies at $8.00 a week 416.00

Clothes 250.00

Savings and insurance 200.00

Developmental 150.00

Incidentals _ 119.00

$1500.00
EIGHTEEN HUNDRED DOLLARS A YEAR

Rent at $25 a month $300.00

Heat 85.00

Light at $1.75 a month 21.00

Food and laundry suppies at $9.00 a week 468.00

Clothes 300.00

Savings and insurance 250.00

Developmental - 200.00

Incidentals _ 176.00

$1800.00
TWENTY -FouR HUNDRED DOLLARS A YEAR

Rent at $30 a month $360.00

Heat 85.00

Light at $2.00 a month 24.00

Food and laundry supplies at $9.00 a week 468.00

Clothes 400.00

Developmental 300.00

Incidentals _ _ 363.00

$2400.00

One fault with such a budget is that the man with the
$600 or $900 income generally has more than two children.
Also before the war too many families did not even have an
income of $600. These budgets show besides more what
expenditures ought to be rather than what they are. Few

PROBLEMS OF THE MODERN FAMILY 203

families have the ability to adjust their expenses in such a
scientific manner. The preceding table has been given, not
for its scientific value, but for its suggestiveness and possible
usefulness to the student. The increase in prices owing to
the war has upset at least temporarily the validity of these
budgets, because prices of all commodities did not go up
in the same proportion. While the bureau of labor statistics
show that the average price of all commodities rose 138 per
cent from 1913 to December, 1919, the different items varied,
food rising 134 per cent, clothing (wholesale) 235 per cent,
lumber and building materials 153 per cent, house furnish-
ings 203 per cent, and farm products 144 per cent. Even
with food there was a great variance, meat risingJ from 50
per cent to 80 per cent, butter 104 per cent, eggs 161 per cent,
lard 121 per cent, flour 133 per cent, bread 179 per cent,
rice 103 per cent, potatoes 153 per cent, coffee, tea, and
sugar 64 per cent, 27 per cent, and 164 per cent respectively.
Hence the proportions in a budget for 1920 would vary con-
siderably from the budget of 1913, larger amounts being nec-
essary for clothing, for example. In all probability those
prices which went up the highest will resume something like
their normal position, and altho prices will undoubtedly be
higher after we settle down to normal conditions again than
the prices before the war, their relative proportions will in
all likelihood remain about the same. So our chief criticism
of such a scheme is that possibly the $600 income will be
looked upon as ancient history ; budgets will need to be worked
out for a larger income than $2400, as $3000, for illustration,
may be a fairly common income in the future.

Engel's Laws. — In this connection might be given Engel's
laws in regard to family expenses. These have stood the test
of time and are without question true in the long run. There
are four of these, as follows:

1. The poorer the family the larger the proportion of the
income is spent for food.

2. The expenditure for clothing remains about the same
in proportion, whatever the income is. The American tend-
ency is to increase the proportion spent for clothing as the
income grows.

3. The percentage of expenditure for rent, fuel, and light
also remain about the same, regardless of income. (Schwabe
maintains that the percentage for rent decreases with the

204 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

increase in income.) The American tendency is to decrease
the proportion spent for rent.

4. As the income increases, the percentage of money spent
for sundries increases.

On the whole an increase in the rent paid denotes an
increase in income for one of the first things considered is
a larger and more desirable house. Yet the poor, as we shall
see in our study of poverty, pay more rent in proportion to
the space they occupy because of a minimum requirement.
Shelter is absolutely essential, and when the amount of house
room is increased beyond the minimum required for shelter,
the marginal utility begins to diminish.

Infant Mortality. — Another family problem which is
much less serious in the United States than in most coun-
tries is that of an unnecessarily high infant mortality. In
past times this was very serious, frequently only a small pro-
portion of the children born surviving infancy. Even in early
colonial times in this country this was the condition. It is
also the state of affairs in many countries today, even such
countries as Italy, Austria, Spain, and Russia in normal times.
During and since the war this has reached horrible propor-
tions, children dying in the devastated areas by the millions.
Countries having low standards generally have high infant
death-rates. This high death-rate among children is com-
pensated for by a high birth-rate. But such a condition is
extremely expensive and holds the population upon a lower
plane of civilization. Having a few children and rearing them
to manhood and womanhood is preferable to giving birth to
a large family and saving but a few of them. Investigations
in American cities show that infant death rates are in inverse
ratio to incomes; those with good incomes lose few children,
while those with smaller incomes lose more and those with
incomes below the minimum standard of existence have an
extremely high infant death-rate. Some of the causes of infant
deaths are the following:

1. Heat — This is a condition hard to regulate, but its

effects can be moderated.

2. Artificial Feeding — Chances of death are five or six

times as great with artificially fed babies as among
those fed according to the way nature has provided.

3. Flies, which carry disease germs to the child, also

PROBLEMS OF THE MODERN FAMILY 205

to its food. Modern campaigns of swatting the fly
and still more important the removal of the breeding
places of the fly, such as garbage cans, dump heaps,
and waste and rubbish in general, are helping to rid
the country of this pest.

4. Ignorance and uncleanliness in the preparation of arti-

ficial foods.

5. Anti-natal affections, such as infections from syphillis,

gonorrhea, lead poisoning, alcoholism, and over work.
The first two are of course the most serious but are
becoming less so with the fight against immorality
and against the spread of those diseases.

6. The entrance of women into industry, producing a

shorter time for rest before and after childbirth and
neglect of the child after birth.

7. Ignorance and carelessness of mid-wives and attend-

ants, thus allowing infection and blood-poisoning.

8. Patent medicines.

This problem of infant mortality can be reduced and is
being done so by the elimination of the conditions which
produce these causes, by such work as is being done by vis-
iting nurses, and by the increase of general education in regard
to the care of the children. Medical science is constantly
discovering more causes of children's diseases and is finding
cures for the diseases, even for those diseases which affect
the child throu infection, such as the discovery of "606" as
a cure for syphillis. On the whole this is a problem with
which we in the United States are grappling with increasing
success.

It is needless to say that there are other problems of the
family, but these have been given and discussed as perhaps
the most significant ones.

READING REFERENCES

GOODSELL, WILLYSTINE, The Family as a Social and Educational Insti-
tution, Chaps. XIII and XIV.

HOWARD, GEORGE E., History of Matrimonial Institutions, Vols. II and III.

ADLER, FELIX, Marriage and Divorce.

LIGHTENBERGER, JAMES P., Divorce: A Study of Social Causation.

WILCOX, W. F., The Divorce Problem: A Study in Statistics.

SALEEBY, C. W., Parenthood and Race Culture.

BUREAU OF STANDARDS, Report on the Cost of Living for an Unskilled
Laborer's Family in New York City.

206 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

IMH-STRIAL COMMISSION OF OHIO, Cost of Living of Working Women

m Ohio.

STREiGHTorr, FRANK H., The Standard of Living.
COOLEY, CHARLES H., Social Organization, Chap. XXXI.
R\ \\. JOHN A., A Living Wage.

INC.. SCOTT E., Wages in the United States.
WKIC.HT. CARROLL D., Outline of Practical Sociology, Part IV, "Questions

of the Family".

MANGOLD, GEORGE B., Problems of Child Welfare.
DENSMORE, EMMET, Sex Equality.

DEALEY, JAMES Q., The Family in its Sociological Aspects.
KEY, ELLEN, Love and Marriage, (somewhat radical).

CHAPTER XI
SOCIAL ACHIEVEMENT

Social achievement is a phase of sociology which is either
completely ignored or overemphasized. Professor Ward treated
sociology as the study of human achievement and limited the
scope of the science to that field, taking up the various insti-
tutions and showing their development. Other sociologists,
on the other hand, ignore the development of society almost
entirely and spend their time analyzing present-day society.
In this work we shall treat the evolution of society, including
the origin and development of institutions of society, as an
important division of sociology. For, in order to understand
present society, we must study the stages thru which the social
institutions have passed. In our study of the family we
found it profitable to review the history of the family before
we took up the problems facing the family today. We treated
the family as an institution first because it was prior to all
others and because its evolution had influence upon all other
phases of social development.

Stages in Social Evolution. — There have been many
attempts to divide the progress of the world into stages and
to classify the different peoples of the earth according to such
a system. The most popular of these systems has been that
attempting to divide the past into the stone age, bronze age,
and iron age, depending upon the materials used by peoples
in weapons. This classification is of course far too indefi-
nite; it is also too rigid, using insufficient methods of com-
parison. Another classification often used, and one which is
quite suggestive, is the following:

1. Hunting and fishing stage, when man lived by the direct
appropriation of these gifts of nature. (Yet there must have
been a time before man had even learned to hunt or fish.)

2. Pastoral stage, when man lived from his flocks and
herds, which he had learned to domesticate.

3. Agricultural stage, after man had acquired the ability

207

208 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

to till the soil; thus he was able to add the fruits of cultiva-
tion to natural resources.

4. Commercial stage, after exchange and commerce had
been developed.

5. Industrial stage, coming with the invention of ma-
chinery.

6. Intellectual stage, less carefully defined.

Such a classification is by no means bad; yet it allows no
time limits and cannot be followed with any degree of accu-
racy. Often there have existed groups in which the women
became agriculturalists while the men of the tribe still hunted
and fished, as was the case with most of the American Indians.
Then again the women may have continued to be agricul-
turalists while the men engaged in trading. Moreover quite
often some of these stages have been skipped entirely, such
as pastoral life because of the lack of animals suitable for
domestication, and agricultural life because of the lack
of fertile soil, as found in Arabia and the region of the
Sahara. So it is impossible to suppose that each race has
passed thru all the phases of this process.

Probably the best single classification so far attempted is
that suggested by Lewis H. Morgan, which is as follows:1

I. Status of Savagery.

1. Lower period, beginning with the infancy of the
human race. During this period articulate speech
began and man lived on fruits and nuts. No
races have been found in the process of passing
thru this period.

2. Middle period, which began with subsistence on
fish and the use of fire, during which time man
spread over the entire world. The Australians
and Poynesians when discovered represented this
period.

3. Upper period, beginning with the use of the bow
and arrow and ending with the employment of
the art of pottery; this art Morgan gives as the
dividing line between savagery and barbarism.
A few of the Indian tribes of North and South
America represent this period, especially those of
the Hudson Bay and Columbia River regions.

^Ancient Society, pp. 9-13.

SOCIAL ACHIEVEMENT 209

II. Status of Barbarism.

1. Lower period, which began with the use of the
art of pottery, included most of the Indian tribes
east of the Missouri River.

2. Middle period, beginning with the domestication
of animals in the Old World and agriculture in
the New, included the village Indians of New
Mexico, Central America, and Peru.

3. Upper period, beginning with the smelting of iron
ore and ending with the use of the phonetic
alphabet, the invention of which marked the
dividing line between barbarism and civilization,
included according to Morgan the Grecian tribes
of the Homeric Age, the Italian tribes before
the founding of Rome, and the Germanic tribes
of the time of Caesar.

III. Status of Civilization, dating from the invention of

a phonetic alphabet and extending to the present
and on into the future.

If we make no attempt to put any dates to these different
periods we may find this classification very useful. It is by
no means arbitrary and many exceptions must be allowed.
It is simply impossible to say that a tribe is savage or bar-
barian simply upon the test of using pottery, for a tribe may
have no clay of which to make the pottery, while other tribes
far less advanced may have an abundance of clay. The bow
and arrow is just as faulty as a criterion, for the necessity
or incentive may be entirely absent; the tribe may live on
the seashore and use fish for food and therefore have no
reason or opportunity to hunt, while another tribe may be
compelled to invent some method of obtaining game. Strict
judgment according to this invention would put many back-
ward tribes above others that are really far more advanced
in culture. In fact we must consider the influences of environ-
ment, such as the effect that grazing land would have in pro-
longing the pastoral life; the effect of fertility of soil in has-
tening or prolonging agriculture; and the effect of presence
or absence of metals, before we make any attempt to classify
according to any periods of progress. The domestication of
animals will allow a denser population than hunting and will
lead to agriculture in many cases, thus permitting still denser

210 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

population, and hastening commerce and trade. On the other
hand it may discourage agriculture. In short it is very diffi-
cult to attempt to fix any hard and fast classification of the
stages of social evolution. At best any such classification
must be used only as an aid in our study; it must never be
taken as an arbitrary rule.

Morgan1 gives also a very interesting classification of the
means of subsistence, showing successive changes in man's
control over his food supply and thus indicating to a large
extent his progress; for each advance in this direction gave
him more time for development as well as a more stable
and varied diet, thus not only affording protection against
hunger and starvation but also allowing a chance for progress.
Morgan's classification is as follows:

1. Direct appropriation oj the gifts oj nature, when man

lived upon what he was able to gather in the way of
fruits, nuts, and roots.

2. Fish subsistence, which preceded hunting because of

lesser danger and greater dependence, for the weap-
ons of man were crude and ineffective against wild
animals, and fish were easier to catch. This diet
was later supplemented by meat obtained from hunt-
ing. This period sometimes was skipped because of
geographic conditions.

3. Farinaceous diet, first composed of grains, gathered wild

and later cultivated, then supplemented by vegetables.

4. Meat and milk diet obtained from domestic animals,

particularly the cow, llama, camel, horse, goat, sheep,
and reindeer.

5. Unlimited subsistence thru field culture and the con-

stant addition of new vegetables, grains, and fruits,
such as the potato and maize.

There is no abrupt change from one stage to another; there
is merely the addition to the supply previously known, thus
adding gradually to achievement and human happiness.

The Mind of Primitive Man. — The question constantly
presenting itself to the student of social evolution is, what
kind of a being was primitive man? As to his body we have
very little exact knowledge, for the skeletons left by him are
fragmentary, seldom amounting to more than one or two
bones. But from these, by the use of our imagination, we

^Ancient Society, Chap. II, pp. 19-28.

SOCIAL ACHIEVEMENT 211

have come to the conclusion that he was a squat, ugly,
somewhat stooped, powerful being, half human and half "ani-
mal, who sought refuge from the wild beasts first in the trees
and later in caves, and that he was about halfway between
the anthropoid ape and modern man. But what interests us
still more in sociology is the kind of a mind this primitive
man had. Was his mind half human or was it equal or
nearly equal, as far as mental capacity is concerned, to that
of man today? Fortunately we have more things with which
to compare the mind of primitive man with the mind of the
present age than we have with which to compare the body,
for we have the institutions started by him and some of his
inventions, for he left remains of his implements, his weapons,
and his decorations, which we shall soon study. It is the
generally accepted opinion among anthropologists, formed on
the basis of these survivals, that primitive man had approxi-
mately the same mental ability as the present day man; that
he used approximately the same mental capacity in meeting
his difficulties and solving his problems as present-day man.

In connection with this question arises the question, why
is it that some races today are more advanced than others?
Also, why have some races progressed and others have not?
The answer is that some races have achieved more than
others not because they were more gifted mentally but because
they were more favorably situated geographically and came
into contact with more stimuli and so advanced more rapidly,
and because of this we cannot claim mental superiority for
the white race on the ground of greater achievement. Geog-
raphy and history are the causes of the superiority or domini-
tion of the European races and their descendants rather than
innate mental capacity.

Primitive races are criticized for their lack of self-control,
but if we examine the matter carefully we find that primitive
man exercises full control upon occasions when he deems con-
trol necessary, such as physical control under pain and torture,
and endurance of hunger, thirst, and discomfort. It is also
asserted that primitive man is lacking in the ability to con-
centrate his attention, but again basis for this statement dis-
appears when we find that what civilized man considers as
worthy of such attention primitive man does not; the latter
shows equal ability to concentrate upon those things which
he considers of importance, such as the perfecting of some
weapon with which to hunt or the watching of habits of the

212 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

animals which he hunts. Primitive man has been also crit-
icized because of his lack of abstract ideas, but since he has
no special need for them he is not in the habit of using them,
while civilized man has such a need and is accustomed there-
fore to use them.

"It is not impossible that the degree of development
of these functions may differ somewhat among different
types of man; but I do not believe that we are able at
the present time to form a just valuation of the hereditary
mental powers of the different races. A comparison of
their languages, customs, and activities suggests that their
faculties may be unequally developed but the differences
are not sufficient to justify us to ascribe materially lower
stages to some peoples and higher stages to others. The
conclusions reached from these considerations are there-
fore, on the whole, negative. We are not inclined to con-
sider the mental organization of different races of man
as differing in fundamental points. Altho, therefore, the
distribution of faculty among the races of man is far from
being known, we can say this much: the average faculty of
the white race is found in the same degree in a large por-
tion of the individuals of all the other races, and, altho, it
is probable that some of these races may not produce as
large a proportion of great men as our own race, there is
no reason to suppose that they are unable to reach the
level of civilization represented by the bulk of our own
people."1

"Uniform development of culture among all the differ-
ent races of man and among all the tribal units is true in
a limited sense only. *** The assumption that the same
forms must necessarily develop in every independent social
unit can hardly be maintained. *** Whether the repre-
sentatives of different races can be proved to have devel-
oped each independently, in such a way that the represen-
tatives of some races stand on low levels of culture, while
others stand on high levels, may be answered in the nega-
tive. If one should make an attempt to arrange the dif-
ferent types of men in accordance with their industrial
development we should find representatives of most diverse
races — such as the Bushmen of South Africa, the Ved-
dah of Ceylon, the Australian, and the Indian of Terra

'Boas, "Mind o] Primitive Man", pp. 122-123.

SOCIAL ACHIEVEMENT 213

del Fuego — on the same lowest level. We should also
find representatives of different races on more advanced
levels, like the negroes of Central Africa, the Indians of
the Southwestern Pueblos, and the Polynesians; and in
our present period we may find representatives of the
most diverse races taking part in the highest types of
civilization. Thus it will be seen that there is no close
relation between race and culture." ]

On the whole we must come to the conclusion that the train-
ing of the mind, like the development of inventions, is largely
a product of necessity, and that the savage is as intellectual
as his environment compels him to be. The following quota-
tion sums up very nicely our general conclusion in regard to
comparative mental development:

"The directions of mental attention and the simplicity
or complexity of mental processes depend on the charac-
ter of the external situation which the mind has to manip-
ulate. If the activities are simple, the mind is simple,
and if the activities are nil, the mind would be nil. The
mind is nothing but a means of manpulating the outside
world. Number, time and space conceptions and systems
become more complex and accurate, not as the human
mind grows in capacity but as activities become more
varied and call for more extended and accurate systems
of notation and measurement."2

Progress has been the result of environment and experiences ;
the accumulation of knowledge and the piling up of achieve-
ments. Some peoples have come into contact with more
varied conditions than others and hence have progressed faster.
Improvements in the way of preserving and passing on knowl-
edge and achievement, such as the inventions of alphabet,
printing, and means of communication, have enabled man con-
tinually to progress more and more rapidly. This conclusion
that we have reached in regard to mental capacity is appli-
cable to races and not to individuals in those races.

The Development of Language. — Language is an
acquired characteristic, one which has to be learned by each
individual. It was among the earliest of human institutions.
By language we mean the power of rational communication
in all its forms, whether oral, written, sign, or gesture; in

"Mind of Primitive Man", pp. 195-196.
Thomas, "Mind of the Savage", in "Source Book of Social Origins", p. 163.

214 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

fact it is much broader than oral speech. The use of lan-
guage is a distinctly human achievement, requiring rational
capacity not possessed by animals. Language is the result of
the struggle of men to understand each other. It is a product
of the mind, yet it aids in the development of the mind; it
is the result of ttfot; it is the attempt to express that thot;
moreover language stimulates thot and thus leads to greater
achievement. Language and social consciousness go together;
in fact thinking is done largely by means of language.

The language (so-called) of animals is chiefly one of inter-
jections; that of early man was undoubtedly much the same,
consisting of ejaculatory cries expressing the emotions, such
as joy, hate, surprise, fear, love, or satisfaction. This is not
language, however, as we consider the term today, for it did
not express thot but merely indicated emotion. After the
interjection the noun was the next part of speech invented;
it came as a result of the effort of man to name objects.
Generally these, names were suggested by some character-
istic of the object, but not necessarily so. Often different
persons in widely separated times or places would be impressed
by different features of the same object, and there would
result a difference in names. Sometimes there was no obvious
connection between the object and the name, the name being
merely a result of an effort to distinguish the object. After
nouns verbs came in, expressing action; then later came words
corresponding to the other parts of speech as we now know
them. Spoken language developed gradually but proceeded
in all probability with greater rapidity as soon as a start was
made. As man began to adopt a more or less settled place
of abode and thus came to associate more constantly with his
fellowmen, greater need of better means of communication
became evident; as a result of this need, language assumed
by degrees a more definite form and man's vocabulary grad-
ually grew larger.

Communication with those present was not sufficient, and
in fact was not always possible even with spoken language,
for languages differed; therefore other means had to be
adopted — the sign language, which became universal and
possibly preceded spoken language. Besides man found a
need to communicate with those at a distance both in space
and in time and so extensions of language had to be invented.
As a result sign language by means of smoke signals or drum
beats, such are are used by natives of Africa and formerly

SOCIAL ACHIEVEMENT 215

by the American Indians, came into use to overcome space
distances. Written language was invented to enable those
distant in time to gain information. The first written lan-
guage took the form of reminders, such as notches cut in
sticks, which the messengers among the Australians carry,
in order not to forget their message. The next step is pic-
ture or symbol language, pictures of objects being drawn
or symbols used to designate them. The early writing of
Egypt took this form. A later step was the invention of a
phonetic alphabet, where symbols or letters represent sounds,
like those in use today by civilized man. Another great step
was the invention of printing — possibly as great an aid to
civilization as the art of writing, for while writing allowed
a record to be made of the past, printing put that record
within the reach of all the people. Before writing came into
use, all history, discoveries, and knowledge had to be handed
down from mouth to mouth, risking the great chance of being
distorted and lost. Before printing was invented records had
to be copied laboriously by hand and thus were expensive and
brot within the reach of only a few; printing made knowledge
democratic. Improvements in printing, which in the modern
press, linotype and monotype machines have reached a highly
complex stage, have added powerful means for the populariza-
tion of knowledge.

Language is by no means perfected; we are constantly
increasing our vocabulary and changing our forms, both in
spelling and in grammar. Simplified spelling is one of the
most important improvements before us today in this coun-
try. Grammar reforms are constantly appearing, attempting
either to make our language fuller in its meaning or simpler
in form. We are steadily discarding variations in our declen-
sions and conjugations and are expressing meaning more thru
the use of modifiers. New words are constantly appearing,
some resulting from the putting together of old words in
order to furnish names for new objects or to suggest a new
meaning; some are borrowed from other languages for these
purposes — a method popular with the English language, which
has drawn so heavily from the Latin, Greek and Romance
languages for this purpose. Then again new words are con-
stantly being coined; many of these are at first discredited,
especially are "slang" words, but after a time some of them
find their way into our dictionaries and are recognized as

216 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF1 SOCIOLOGY

legitimate. New situations and experiences also bring in
new words, as illustrated by the recent war.

Thus language, while a product of socialization, has made
further socialization possible. Without it modern civilization
would be impossible. It is the product of mind and at the
same time acts in all probability as the mind's greatest stimu-
lant. It is perhaps man's greatest social achievement.

Inventions. — A product of the mind of man, one which
furnishes us an excellent guide by which to study the social
evolution of man, is invention. Inventions give us means of
comparing primitive with civilized man. They also serve as
landmarks of progress. Inventions, however, are influenced
by the geographic environment, for they are the results of
the efforts of man to fill his needs; they are the products of
necessity. Nature serves as a stimulus in this way; if there
are wild animals there is the incentive for the invention pf
weapons, like the bow and arrow, or traps, such as the dead-
fall; and if the people gain their food from the water, they
turn the same mental capacity towards the inventing of nets,
hooks, pounds, and boats ; if agriculture is the means of liveli-
hood, the inventive ability will be turned to the shaping of
hoes, plows, and methods of irrigation; if food is scarce in
winter, methods of preserving will be invented — freezing,
smoking, drying and curing of meat and fish; the drying of
fruits, the storing of grain, and later in civilization the can-
ning of all kinds of food; if man lives near water he will invent
boats, fashioning them out of whatever material is available,
particularly tree trunks, bark or skins. The same is true
with all inventions; environment and necessity have been tbye
mainsprings of mental activity, the former to suggest and the
latter to compel. In regard to weapons it has been suggested
that man obtained the idea of many of these from the animals
about him, getting the pattern of the spear from those animals
with horns or tusks; of the bow from the bending limb or
sapling in the forest; of knives, daggers, and notched weapons
from the teeth of animals; of the use of poisons from poison-
ous insects and reptiles; of defensive weapons, particularly
shields and armor from the tough hides of such animals as
the rhinoceros and buffalo; of armor in the form of plates
or scales from the alligator. These were all undoubtedly sug-
gestive, and the fact that man was physically weaker than
many of the animals around him compelled him to seek aid.
The club was possibly the first invention and was largely the

SOCIAL ACHIEVEMENT 217

result of the need felt by man to hit harder and at a greater
distance than his fist would allow. Spears and slings were
improvements on the club; the bow and arrow was another
step in advance, and it in turn had to give way to the gun
fired by gunpowder. Combat not only with the animals but
with other men compelled man to improve his weapons. The
tribe or band which had the better weapons won, and that
having inferior equipment was defeated. Thus man was com-
pelled to adopt the best weapons that he could find ; individuals
or groups who did not were exterminated.

Primitive inventions showed as great mental capacity and
genius as modern inventions, in fact we often think that
they were really greater achievements. The attainment to the
use of fire was as great an achievement as the discovery of
electricity and had a far greater effect upon society. The
invention of the modern 42-centimeter gun, the high power
rifle, and machine gun are no greater achievements than was
the construction of the first bow and arrow, of which they
are merely improvements; the theory is the same, that of
throwing a missile. The contrivance of the alphabet was
in one respect a greater achievement than that of the modern
printing press, for the press could never have been possible
without the alphabet. Glass-ware and china show merely the
continuation of the idea which produced pottery. In short,
modern inventions are in most cases merely improvements
upon primitive inventions. Nearly every new device or ma-
chine produced today is nothing more than an improvement
of some previous device or machine.

It is astonishing to see how many of our modern tools and
mechanical devices are known by primitive man, not of course
in their present finished state but in a cruder and less effec-
tive form. Primitive man had the idea and the method;
we have merely improved upon the product. In regard to
instruments of cutting, primitive man had knives, shears,
planes, axes, chisels, smoothers, scrapers, polishers, and saws.
They were to be sure made of stone, bones, shells, teeth, and
pieces of stick, but great ingenuity was used in fitting of
handles by means of grooves, boring of holes, riveting, glueing,
and lashing. Instruments of piercing were made such as
awls, gimlets, and needles. Tongs, nippers, vices, and presses
were also used, and also all kinds of ingenious methods of
tying knots and fastening articles together.

Perhaps much greater in the way of achievement was the

218 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES Of SOCIOLOGY

employment of many of the principles of mechanics and the
laws of physics, particularly those underlying the use of the
lever, wedge, wheel and axle, pulley, screw, inclined plane,
and roller, all of which primitive man made use of in his
every day life, using the wedge to split trees, the pulley to
haul great weights, the lever to lift heavy bodies, and the
inclined plane to get a heavy object upon a high place. Scales
and balances were also in common use with primitive man.
The savage may never have understood the laws governing
these tools, and in all probability never realized that there
might have been such a thing as a law. But the use of these
devices goes to point out that primitive man had as good a
mind as civilized man, only it was not so well trained. Civil-
ization is the result of the accumulation of knowledge; prog-
ress is simply the piling up of achievement.

In his battle with nature man has proved superior and has
subjected nature to his will. Animals have been transformed
by their environment but man has proved himself master to
it. He has been influenced by nature altho he has never
become her slave; he has compelled her to serve him. While
progress at first may have been accidental, it eventually became
telic, or purposeful. Man has never been willing to leave
well enuf alone and has persistently refused to be dominated
or hindered by nature; he has steadily thrown off her bonds
and become her master. Matter and motion cannot be
destroyed but they can be transformed into channels useful
to man; this transformation is what invention has done. Inven-
tions have been by no means sudden discoveries; they are
slow growths or the accumulations of ideas. At first inven-
tion was extremely slow, but as man progressed it became
more rapid; thru the betterment of means of communication
the invention of a few things caused other inventions to spring
up. Also invention and discovery have been reciprocal, inven-
tion leading to discovery and discovery ushering in invention.
We had to discover the powers of steam and electricity before
we could invent the steam engine or the telegraph; these
inventions led to further discoveries, which in turn made pos-
sible other inventions. Inventions have enabled man to make
better use of the gifts of nature. They have also acted as
mile-stones of progress, ushering in periods of greater accom-
plishment. They are human achievements, made possible by
man's superior mental ability.

SOCIAL ACHIEVEMENT 219

Evolution of Property. — At first man had no property,
unless we can call unconsumed food property, for he was
simply an animal among animals. Since property depends
upon invention, probably the first definite form of property
was the club; to this was added other weapons as they were
constructed. Then articles of personal use came in, such as
cooking utensils, traps, hooks, nets, and in fact all of those
articles which a savage would use to aid him in the battle
with nature. Clothes and articles of ornament were added
later, for originally man wore no clothes. Clothes appeared
first as ornaments and were not adopted for the sake of mod-
esty or for warmth; both of these functions developed, for
after man grew accustomed to wearing clothes a sense of mod-
esty developed and he became ashamed to go without them.
The use of clothing for warmth is likewise the result of habit.
These clothes were made of skins, bark, leaves, and grasses
woven together. All manner of ornaments came into use,
from the most primitive efforts at decoration down to the
costly jewels and apparel created during later periods of lux-
ury. With the appearance of pastoral life property in flocks
and herds developed among pastoral peoples. Also with this
period but more especially with the development of agricul-
ture land began to be held as property, that is, land which
was suitable for grazing and agricultural purposes, land which
was well watered and fertile or which was near some water
hole. Before this, land in the shape of some favorite cave
or spot desired for residential purposes was held as property,
provided the person was strong enuf to hold possession of it.

Early life was more or less communistic; only the strongest
and quickest had a choice; and a person held his own prop-
erty by reason of the strong arm or lost it to someone else
by lack of it. But as inventions created property, govern-
ment (as we shall see in the next chapter) slowly developed
and laid down rules for its ownership, thus acknowledging
the right of private property. In fact the holding of private
property was one of the great incentives towards govern-
ment, demanding definite rules, executives to enforce them,
and judges to decide disputes. With the development of the
idea of property came in mediums of exchange. At first
articles were exchanged by means of barter, where one person
having some article which he wished to exchange for others
was obliged to find someone having the desired article who
was willing to exchange with him. This was too clumsy a

220 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

method and there slowly arose the idea of exchanging for
some article of universal demand which could easily be given
for the ultimately desired article. For mediums of exchange
were used common articles of food; rice, wheat, maize, fish,
beans, nuts, figs, dates, salt, cocoanuts, tea, coffee; or some
article of clothing, as furs, cotton, silk, domestic animals,
especially cattle; articles of ornament, as beads, wampum,
feathers, or paint; slaves; even women; and finally the pre-
cious metals. Articles had to be selected which all or many
wanted, which had some standard of value, and which were
easily transported. Market places came into use and often
were very highly developed even among primitive savages,
certain places being set aside in the forest and rules laid down
to protect those going to and coming from them. Barter
was used at first at these market places but advantage was
later taken of the prevailing mediums of exchange. The devel-
opment of property has steadily increased as civilization has
progressed and greater accumulations have developed. Laws
have been made to protect property, at times to such an extent
that property is better protected even than human life itself.
Just now the tendency is, however, away from this.

Evolution of Industry. — Property led to industrial devel-
opment. To bring about industry division of labor was
necessary. The first division of labor was that between
man and woman, man doing the hunting, fishing, trap-
ping, herding, and fighting, while woman cared for the chil-
dren and did the cooking and the work about the camp, gen-
erally including agriculture. Then gradually different men
found out that they could do some one thing better than
another and so did that one thing, exchanging their products
for the products of others. Some found out that they were
especially skilled in making bows and arrows or wampum,
or knew how to make superior canoes; this was particularly
true of the American Indians. Among African tribes smith-
ing is a trade followed by some, others bringing their iron
work to them. Barter and exchange made this specialization
possible and with the development of exchange and trade it
increased. During the feudal times handicrafts appeared, cer-
tain towns developing certain industries, the secrets of which
were handed down from father to son. In countries where
slavery was highly developed slave labor was organized along
such lines, slaves being taught different trades; many estates
were highly organized, having hundreds and thousands of

SOCIAL ACHIEVEMENT 221

slaves following scores of occupations. Later guilds sprang
up, especially in the towns of Germany. These were really
closed trade unions, which kept the secrets of the different
trades and limited the number of apprentices. In this way
manufacturing began at home, even weaving being carried on
in the houses of the workers. Then with the invention of
the steam engine, power loom, and numerous other machines,
home industry was driven to the wall by the greater efficiency
of machine industry and the factory age was ushered in. This
change produced endless suffering, terrible poverty, and
increased the burdens of labor; but it of course increased
production and in the end was a blessing. This system is
still further changing into what is often called "big business",
or the concentration of capital in large industries, a process
which in turn has caused much confusion by crowding small
industries to the wall. With the increase in size of industry
there has come a greater division of labor. Under the handi-
craft system a man generally constructed entirely an article,
like a pair of shoes, a chair, or a carriage. With the division
of labor in the present-day factory he does only a part, pass-
ing on the uncompleted article to some one else, who adds
another touch and passes it on to still another. This method
has been so highly developed by the invention of modern
machinery that an ordinary article, like a shoe or a hat,
passes thru hundreds of hands in the factory itself, -to say
nothing of those who handle the raw material before it reaches
the factory and those who transport and sell the finished arti-
cle. This division has enabled man to become highly skilled
and to produce in large quantities, and so has enabled society
to have more commodities than otherwise would have been
possible, but it has also brot in problems, as we shall see
later.

Social Effects of Industrial Development. — The first
great benefit of industrial development to society is of course
increased production, since it furnishes a greater mass of com-
modities with which to satisfy human desires and allows man
continually to advance in social progress. But this very
accumulation of wealth has accentuated the problem of dis-
tribution, for never in the history of the world has there been
anything like an equal distribution of wealth, the strong always
having a monopoly; today strength has changed from physical
strength to mental shrewdness and ingenuity. This unequal
distribution, while necessary and often just, has led to end-

222 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

less disputes, class conflicts, and antagonism. Under the handi-
craft stage the worker was also the proprietor and had what he
produced, but under the present industrial system the laborer
works for wages, which are set by the supply and demand
for labor and are not governed, except as to the upper limit,
by the productivity of the labor. In this way labor has often
been exploited, notoriously so at the beginning of the indus-
trial revolution in England in the early years of the nineteenth
century, when the employer paid as small wages as possible.
This caused organizations of labor to resist exploitation, bring-
ing on conflicts between capital and labor in the way of strikes
and lockouts, which often were carried to extreme violence on
both sides. The present tendency is towards the arbitration
of labor disputes, such a method having been already achieved
in some countries, particularly New Zealand. Both capital
and labor oppose this movement, however, both preferring to
settle such disputes by struggle.

The development of industry has not only allowed each
worker to produce more but has enabled him to do so in a
shorter time. Modern factory hours are far shorter than
hours of labor under the handicraft stage and the modern
workman has far less anxiety in regard to obtaining food,
clothing, and shelter for himself and family than did primi-
tive man, who was obliged to rely wholly upon his own efforts.
But the building up of factory towns has caused neglect of
the comforts of the workers, often producing poor dwellings,
lack of sanitation, bad surroundings, and unpleasant home
life. Factory conditions have not always been sanitary and
hygenic; in fact they have as a rule been just the opposite.
This situation has compelled society to take a stand and, either
thru public opinion or legislative enactment, forced factory
owners to look after the welfare of their workers. Industrial
development has built up a complicated system of co-opera-
tion, yet in this machine too often the laborer has become a
mere cog, his individuality being stamped out and his very
welfare ignored. The present machine process, where each
worker merely adds one touch to an article, passes it on; takes
up another, and performs the same operation, is deadening to
his nerves and dulls his physical and mental process. He
becomes a mere piece of the whole mechanism.

The invention of machines has made man's labor less violent
physically but has at the same time ushered in child and
women labor because a child or woman can often tend a

SOCIAL ACHIEVEMENT 223

machine as easily as a man. This thru the operation of the
law of supply and demand, has kept the wages of man down
by means of competition. Industrial development has given
the opportunity of providing man greater time for leisure, rest,
recreation, and education but the laborer has not always been
allowed to receive the benefit of this, the chance too frequently
being monopolized by the employed and used in building up
a fortune, only to be wasted by his family in luxurious living.
This condition is steadily growing less serious for the worker
is demanding shorter hours and larger pay and is steadily
gaining these demands — so much so that some of us are even
becoming alarmed because of it. But at the beginning of
the industrial revolution and along thru the first few decades
of the past century wages were too often starvation wages.
Twelve to sixteen hours work constituted the working day
and conditions were terrible, in fact hardly believable, chil-
dren being treated worse than slaves, especially in the English
factories; at the same time the factory owners were amassing
immense fortunes and reveling in luxury. Such conditions
could not be permanent if civilization was to advance, and for-
tunately are now a thing of the past in most countries. Indus-
trial development has made man's existence more certain by
insuring him labor; yet industrial development has made the
laborer dependent upon the factory and has put the possi-
bility of work in the hands of others. When a board of
directors decides that a factory is not paying dividends it
closes down the plant until the conditions of the market
change; meanwhile the workers are deprived of a chance
to earn a living. In other words, dividends are of greater
importance than the subsistence of the workers. This same
development has made man's life less dangerous than for-
merly, yet it has put his safety into the hands of others. We
are commencing to solve these problems by providing sick-
ness, accident, and unemployment insurance, which are inci-
dental to the industrial evolution. Thus while industrial evo-
lution has increased happiness and prosperity it has brot in
its problems. Also as we solve these problems new ones
arise and in turn have to be dealt with.

224 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF1 SOCIOLOGY

READING REFERENCES

MORC.NN. I.i.uis H., Ancient Society, Part I.

THOMAS, W. I., Source Book for Social Origins, Parts II and III.

H\MS. HOWARD C., Introduction to the Study oj Sociology, Part III.

CHAPIN, F. STUART, Introduction to the Study oj Social Evolution.

CH\I;N. F. STUART, An Historical Introduction to Social Economy.

KM in. BENJAMIN, Social Evolution.

SPENCER, HERBERT, Principles of Sociology.

TYLOR, E. B., Primitive Culture.

BOAS, F., Mind of Primitive Man.

WARD, LESTER F., Pure Sociology, Chaps. XIX and XX.

BUCHER, K.., Industrial Evolution, Wickett's translation.

RICHARD T., Evolution of Industrial Society.
CARLETON, FRANK T., History and Problems of Organized Labor.
ADAMS, T. S. AND SUMNER, HELEN, Labor Problems.
WRIGHT, CARROLL P., Industrial Evolution of the United States.
BOCART, E. L., Economic History of the United States. Books on Con-
ditions Among Primitive Peoples.

SPENCER, B. AND GILLIN, F. J., Northern Tribes of Central Australia.
HOWITT, A. H., Native Tribes of South Eastern Australia.
RIVERS, W. H. R., The Todas.
SELIGMAN, MR. AND MRS. C. G., The Veddas.
KIDD, DUDLEY, The Essential Kaffir.
KIDD, DUDLEY, Savage Childhood.
CRAWFORD, J., Thinking Black.
SKEAT, W. W. AND BLAGDEN, C. O., Pagan Races of the Malay Peninsula.

CHAPTER XII
THE STATE

By state we mean the political organization of individuals
of a more or less definitely bounded geographical territory for
the purpose of protection or preservation of the group. It
differs slightly from government, the organ thru which the
state expresses itself, or the form which the state takes in
expressing its control. The term state is much broader than
that of government, for it includes all the individuals in
the geographical territory, while government refers only to
the individuals in the actual organization. The state embodies
not only a territory and a population, but also unity and
organization. It includes a political scheme with its laws,
officials, and machinery of governing; also it implies some
kind of co-operation among its members. In this study we
shall not make an attempt to cover the subject of political
science or government, but shall treat the state merely as
a social institution, noticing its origin and development. In
another chapter we shall take up law as a means of social
control.

Origin of the State. — Different Theories. • — - Because the
state existed long before we have any recorded history, its
exact origin, or origins, are not definitely known, but are
largely a matter of conjecture or of theory. The facts of his-
tory and the conditions found today among primitive people,
however, point back to some forms and characteristics of the
primitive state, and from these, certain more or less definite
conclusions have been drawn. Some of these theories which
have held sway are the following:

1. Theory of Divine Right. — According to the theory of
divine right theory the Supreme Being selected certain indi-
viduals and ordained that they should rule and govern the
rest. This theory was widely used in Europe by weak mon-
achs, especially the Stuarts and Bourbons, to create respect
for themselves and thus to enable themselves to manage posi-
tions otherwise too big for them; it was still more recently

(G) 225

226 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF1 SOCIOLOGY

set forth by the Hohenzollerns to justify their selfish aims.
This theory has at times performed valuable social service
; rat ing respect for government, thus enabling civilization
to progress. It is needless to say that this theory, popularly
known as "divine right of kings", is no longer held by scien-
tifir men, altho formerly many did try, either conscientiously
or pusilanimously, to do so, some even writing large volumes
in its defense.

2. Social Contract. — The theory of social contract, which
was advocated by such men as Hobbes, Locke, and Rousseau,
has more validity than that of divine right. According to
it the state is the result of the voluntary agreement of the
individual members of the state, who come together and form
a contract for some definite organization. This agreement
came about, it was argued, from the feeling of the need of
some method of organization and control. The union of the
Swiss cantons and of the American colonies into republics
is often given as proof of this theory. While there is a great
deal of argument offered not only in these illustrations but
in the formation of many other states, we cannot accept this
idea of the origin of the state for the simple reason that the
state came into existence before the savage had reached that
state in civilization when he was able to appreciate the need
of any such organization; in other words the state came into
being before such an origin could have been possible. With
modern states or with those formed after the people had
reached a comparatively high stage of culture this idea of
contract has played some part, but even here it is only one
of the various factors going to make up the origin of the
state. So while we are obliged to give this theory some credit,
we shall be required to reject it as the theory completely
accounting for the origin of the state.

3. Origin Thru Struggle. — According to another idea the
state is the direct result of race struggle, the weaker bands
being conquered by the stronger and a state being formed
out of their union. Professor Ward was perhaps the best
advocate of this theory, developing the idea according to the
following steps or stages:

(a). Subjugation of One Race by Another. — When a wan-
dering band was going along some river or seashore or up a
mountain valley, it might meet another band going in the
opposite direction. After futile attempts to communicate with
each other each would look upon the other as an enemy and

THE; STATE 227

would immediately try to exterminate it. The fight would
last until one band or the other was either exterminated or
driven from the field. After the encounter the victors might
even eat the bodies of the fallen foes and in this way originate
cannibalism; also they might slay the captives and eat them.
But soon they would find out that it was more advantageous to
enslave their captives, thus being able to make use of them
thruout their life — a more profitable procedure than. the eating
of them; moreover upon necessity or desire they could at any
time be eaten. At first the women were enslaved and made
to serve as wives or concubines; then later the men were put
into bondage. Slavery continued until the conquerors found
it more profitable or advantageous to allow the conquered ones
their own liberty, granting them the right to live in their
own homes and to govern their own lives, but regarding them
as inferiors subject to the conquerors. This gave rise to
the second stage.

(b). Origin of Caste. — After slavery was found to be
too cumbersome, the enactment of tribute took its place. With
this as an incentive bands of warriors who excelled because
of superior weapons or organization would be formed to go
out on plundering expeditions. Sometimes they would con-
quer a region which they would prefer to their own territory
and would decide to settle down upon the people they had
conquered, exacting tribute from them. At first each people
would hate the other, and the conquerors by virtue of their
superiority would reduce the defeated peoples to a position
of inequality, not allowing them any rights and compelling
them to give way to their conquerors but to serve them when
needed. This would cause a somewhat hard and fast caste
to be formed, such as we have in some countries even down
to the present date; India is a good example of this condi-
tion. Generally there would develop a middle group, usually
a trading class, as an intermediary between these two castes.
But there would gradually arise a third condition, which was
the result of acquaintance.

(c). A Gradual Mitigation of the Condition of Caste.—
After living near each other for a long time each group would
become reconciled to each other; the conquerors would see
some good in the people they had despised and the conquered
would scorn to a lesser degree those who had defeated them.
Since they would be obliged to associate with each other, their
race hatred would diminish. Then, too, they would inter-

228 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF1 SOCIOLOGY

marry, the conquerors taking as wives the most beautiful of
the women of the conquered, who would not indeed always
be adverse to it. This would cause the rulers to see that
their serfs were human beings like themselves and therefore
deserved some consideration, so there would gradually result
a mitigation of the selfish and arbitrary rule of the stronger
party. While there would yet be a state of marked individual,
social, and political inequality, there was a great improvement,
which easily led to a further stage.

(d). Substitution of a Form of Law, With the Origin of
Legal Right, for the Purely Military Rule of the Conquerors.

- Before the creation of a sense of legal right punishment
of crime was entirely at the pleasure of the conquerors, whose
rule was absolute. With the recognition of the fact that the
lower caste was composed of human beings who acted and
felt like themselves they came to recognize that these same
people had some rights — a point of view much accelerated
by intermarriage. This caused the laying down of sets or
codes of law, first spoken rules and later written laws, which
governed the action of the lower caste and regulated their
treatment at the hands of the upper caste. The same would
be true in regard to property rights, at first all property being
regarded as belonging to the conquerors, but later being allowed
to the lower caste.

(e). The Origin of the State. — When organization reached
the stage known as the state, all classes had both rights and
duties. The development of law required some system to
enforce it; thus there developed a form of government, its
forms depending upon the people and the environmental con-
ditions. This usually took a monarchial form, the rule being
delegated to chiefs, either selected or self-appointed, who
passed their power on to their descendants. With the growth
of population others were brot into the government, and in
this way the various forms of government evolved.

(f). The Cementing Together of All This Mass of Hetero-
geneous Elements into a More or Less Homogeneous People.

-With the mitigation of class hatred, the relaxation of the
arbitrary rule of the upper caste, and the development of a
spirit of mutual dependence there would develop a mingling
of all classes. The upper classes depended upon the lower
classes for soldiers to fill the army; merchants looked to them
for customers, and industry drew upon them for laborers.
The lower classes relied upon the upper classes for laws, pro-

THE STATK 229

tection, and leadership. Thus there would come a survival
of the best elements in all divisions of society. The customs,
habits, religions and institutions which were superior or best
adapted to conditions would be adopted. In this way there
would be a welding together of all elements and the resulting
institutions would be superior to those possessed by either band
before the conquest.

(g). Rise and Development of a Sentiment of Patriotism
and the Formation of a Nation. — When some great danger,
such as invasion by a foreign foe, would come up, there would
arise a realization of a feeling of patriotism, a sentiment of
attachment to the land and a recognition of common interests,
and all would unite to ward off the danger; but what would
be still more important, the different factions would be welded
into a nation.

While the struggle theory would admit of peaceful assimi-
lation, the formation of the state, like the formation of most
institutions, would be primarily the product of struggle or
of competition, and thru this method we would advance.
There is no question that many states were evolved in this
manner, but the struggle theory is too narrow to explain the
formation of all states. Many states were the results of
other methods, altho probably no state came into existence
without experiencing some competition and struggle. Undoubt-
edly it was the strongest element in the formation of the
state. In modern times it has softened down, and many
of the earlier stages have been omitted. As a single expla-
nation it is the most plausible of any yet suggested, but it
is not the whole solution.

4. Origin of the State Thru the Family. — Another theory
often advanced (with a great deal of historical backing in
its favor) is that the state is the direct outgrowth of the
family, especially of the patriarchal family, where the father
was the head of the household as -long as he lived. Not
only was he head of the family; he was priest, lawgiver and
judge as well. He was head not only of his own family but
of the entire band of relatives, and as this group enlarged
the patriarch remained the ruler, passing his authority on to
his eldest son and in this way developing a line of rulers.
As the affairs needing attention increased in numbers, he
divided the work or appointed others to help him discharge

230 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

his many duties, delegating certain work to each one/ Mor-
in accord with this theory, develops the state from the
family thru the gens, a collection of related families; the
phratry, a collection of allied or related gentes; the tribe, a
number of allied phratries; and the nation or state, an organ-
ization of tribes. He based his theory upon evidence found
among the Iroquois and Aztec Indians and the early Greeks
and Romans. The first early organizations were undoubtedly
outgrowths of the family, and in many places the state can
be directly traced from the family. But when we attempt
to say that the state as an institution is merely the outgrowth
of the family, we meet with the same defect that we find in
the other theories already advanced — it is too narrow a foun-
dation; influences existing outside the family come in to help
mold the state. It was one of the sources of origin, in fact
one of the chief sources; but it was by no means the only
source.

5. The Evolutionary Origin. — By the theory of evolu-
tionary origin is meant that we cannot trace the origin of
the state back to any single plan; that the state was not
an invention but a growth, an evolution; that its growth
was a gradual process; that it is the product of many forces
and developed in different countries in different ways, depend-
ing upon the forces brot to bear upon it. Not only race
struggle, kinship, and the need for- protection affected it, but
also religion, climate, geographical location, and industrial
development. In short the state is a product of society,
improving with the progress of society. The growth of the
state has been swifter in some places than in others, because,
conditions being more favorable, man developed more rapidly
in those sections. For this reason we find the state better
developed in Europe and America than in Asia and Africa.
The same conditions are not favorable to all institutions; for
instance, those favorable to the state might not be conducive
to religion, and those advantageous to industry might not*
be stimulative to art. But the state was affected the same
as other institutions were affected, that is, it grew rapidly
where conditions were favorable and slowly where conditions
were unfavorable. In order to get a clear understanding of
the development of the state we must consider some of these
forces that influenced its development.

'Illustrated by Exodus XVIII; 13-26.
'Morgan, "Ancient Society", Part II.

THE STATE 231

Factors Entering Into the Development of the State.

— A study of the development of the state would not be com-
plete without some consideration of the factors entering into
its formation, but we can take time to mention only a few;
a study of all the forces would be a consideration of all the
influences affecting society in general. We have already con-
sidered kinship, which was so important that many writers
have called the family the origin of the state. In chapter
on geographical influences we considered the effect of loca-
tion upon the development of society and saw that the geo-
graphical conditions determine to a large extent the nature
of the government and the size, importance, and character
of the state; that if located in the track of civilization, its
progress will be rapid, but if left outside of this track, the
state may remain dwarfed and primitive. Natural boundaries
may make a strong government unnecessary, while unprotected
frontiers may compel such a development. The natural sit-
uation also helps to determine the form of the government.
The neighbors which a state has influence its development;
if they are warlike, they will strengthen the authority of the
government of the state and will tend to cause centralization
of power in the hands of a few and the organization or a
military or naval defense. The character of the neighbors
determines whether a country will be conquered or whether
its people will themselves turn conquerors. Richness of nat-
ural resources will invite conquest, and scarcity of neighbors
will insure against invasion. Isolation will tempt stagnation
in that it provides no incentive to progress. In short geo-
grahical location and environment are extremely important
and must not be neglected when we trace the evolution of the
state. It is the disregard of this factor that lays such theories
as the contract and force theories open to criticism and refu-
tation.

Wealth and industry are important factors in the develop-
ment of the state. When personal property rights became
recognized there arose the need of some means of protecting
property, of some rules in regard to its ownership, and of
some authority to carry out these rules. These were some
of motives prompting man to organize government, some of
the needs which had to be filled. When property was devel-
oped still further and the various forms of industry arose,
the need for protection increased, and more steps were taken
to insure it. This fact caused those having wealth to take

232 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

greater interest in government and to attempt to get control
of affairs. Where industry has reached the greatest develop-
ment, there we find the strongest influence exercised by the
wealthy classes, especially if the control of industry is centered
in the hands of a few. If on the other hand the wealth is
evenly distributed, the government is democratic. The nature
of the prevailing industry must also be considered. Pastoral
life tended towards a patriarchal system and brot with it
slavery and absolute obedience to the ruler. Agricultural life
caused disputes over boundaries and water holes, and occa-
sioned the need of rules in regard to them. Hunting and
fishing called for rules governing the division of game. The
accumulation of property is largely the basis of social classi-
fication, producing such distinctions as master and slave, lord
and serf, employer and employee, and capital and labor. In
this way governing classes have originated based to a large
extent upon the ownership of property.

Religion is a factor which is both neglected and over empha-
sized. Religion has helped to give social discipline, for it
has been a force holding the group together, restraining the
wayward and radical. It has been of aid in teaching respect
for those in power, for at first the religious and the political
leaders were the same, and later were in close alliance. In
this way religion has helped bring about much greater prog-
ress in political organization than would have been possible
without it. At first religion was a tribal affair and not a
matter of individual concern, and the chief was supposed to
have divine sanction, thus adding to his power. Later states
incorporated religion into the government, as was done par-
ticularly by the Hebrews, and in varying degrees by the
Romans, Spanish, French, English, Chinese, and Russians.
On the other hand, religion has called upon the state to carry
out its commands and to enlarge its influence, the Roman
Catholic and Mohammedan faiths particularly, and even the
Church of England and the Puritans doing so. Religion has
compelled the state to make laws in its favor, especially laws
against sacrilege, non-observance of the Sabbath, and the
breaking of religious customs. In recent years we have drifted
away from this idea of joining of church and state; we have
come to the conclusion that the two ought to be separated;
but at one time in many, if not in the majority, of races
the idea was held that they either were synonymous or went
hand in hand.

THE; STATE; 233

The contribution of individual will power must not be wholly
neglected, altho modern history is giving less and less space
to the military heroes and great kings of old. Conquests have
often been the result of individual selfishness backed up by
military power; examples are those of Babylon, Assyria, and
Persia; of the Greeks under Alexander; the majority 'of the
Roman conquests; those of many of the rulers of Europe
during the Middle Ages; and particularly in recent times the
campaigns of Napoleon and the bid for world power made
by Germany in 1914. Conquests have been made in order to
extend boundaries, smaller and less powerful states being
absorbed, sometimes by more or less peaceful means, as the
formation of the late German Empire, but more often by
warlike means. The conquests of Poland, Hungary, and Ire-
land, which were fiercely opposed, and of Finland and India,
which were less strongly resisted, are examples of this force-
ful method. Sometimes states break up after the death of
the founder, crumbling like the empire of Alexander. Again
when the central power becomes weak, the state either breaks
up or loses its outlying provinces; in this way the Roman
Empire broke up and Spain lost all her possessions. Often
upon the death of a king his children divide up the empire,
as the kingdom of Charlemagne was dismembered. Then,
again, if the different elements are not welded together and
thoroly assimilated, they often break apart; sometimes after
struggle, as the Balkan provinces and Greece broke away
from Turkey; and sometimes peaceably, as in the separation
of Norway and Sweden in 1905. Now and then colonies are
formed to be of help to the mother country, and very fre-
quently they become alienated in interests and spirit and
finally detach themselves, perhaps because of injustice and
misrule, or simply because of the growth of different inter-
ests, the Greek colonies, the Spanish possessions in America,
and the American colonies being examples. But as a rule
ever since the entire globe has been inhabited, the tendency
has been to unite, for the stronger to absorb the weaker. This
process has been going on for thousands of years and is still
going on, occasionally thru peaceably union, but more fre-
quently thru force, the stronger unit subjugating the weaker
or compelling it to come into the union. In fact the modern
state is often made up of very heterogeneous elements, being
the result of conquests, trades, and treaties. The map of
Europe before the great war furnished a proof of this, perhaps

234 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

the most striking illustration being that of Austria-Hungary.
So great was this absorption of the weak by the strong that
the peace conference found it practically impossible to restore
to smaller nationalities their former liberties.

Functions of the State. — Nearly every writer on poli-
tics defines in some manner or other the functions of the
state. These definitions all differ in detail, altho most of
them now agree in the fundamental principles. As time goes
on and the state develops, it assumes more and more functions
which formerly were delegated to other institutions. It has
taken over many functions from religion, as the care of depend-
ents; from the family, particularly education of the children;
and from the individual, as the punishment of crime. The
state is constantly adding to its duties and enlarging its
powers. The following, however, may be given as the leading
offices of the state as we conceive them today.

1. The Preservation and Maintenance of National Integ-
rity. — Before a state can do much of anything it must be
certain of its own existence. It must protect itself from for-
eign enemies and from the encroachments of other states;
it must also insure itself against insurrections of its own citi-
zens. To do this it is obliged to maintain armies, navies,
and police systems with all their apurtenances as forts, spies,
and detectives.

2. The Protection of Life and Property of Its Citizens,
Including the Right to Trans jer and Inherit Property. — This
was one of the first functions (and is yet a primary one) of
the state — the protection of its citizens from violence both
from foreign enemies and from other members of the state.
Lawless elements must always be held in restraint; the power
to do this is the first test of a state, for if life and property
are not safe the country cannot progress; if a state cannot
protect life and property it is weak and soon falls a victim
to a stronger state.

3. The Making and Enj arcing of Laws, Including the
Defining oj Crime and Its Punishment. — This function really
includes many others, but because it is one of the first to
be assumed, the others coming in as later developments, it
is mentioned separately. This function was maintained by the
ancient rulers, the earliest chiefs, who ruled by reason of the
strong arm; it was performed also by the patriarchs. It has
never been relinquished ; on the contrary it has been added to.
The punishment of crime was originally, however, largely a

THE; STATE 235

family or individual duty; it has now been appropriated
entirely as a state function. At first these laws were merely
arbitrary rules laid down at the pleasure of the rulers, altho
even then the protection of the group and to some extent
of the individuals in the group was considered, but the tend-
ency has been to put greater and greater stress upon what
is for the best interests of society. In order to protect the
individuals and its own self the state is obliged to define crime
and to affix penalties for the breaking of laws. To accom-
plish these offices requires legislative machinery.

4. The Administration of Justice, not Only Between the
State and Its Citizens, but Among the Citizens Themselves.

- To do this judges and courts have been instituted to make
the decisions and to see that justice is given.

5. The Defining of Relationships, Duties, Obligations, and
Privileges Within the State. — This includes the defining of
the relationships among members of families, the rights of
individuals, and those of institutions within the state.

6. The Regulation of Contracts, Including Debts, Obliga-
tions, Etc. — In order to allow the greatest freedom of oppor-
tunity and to accomplish the administration of justice the
state is obliged to see that contracts are legal and valid. This
care is necessary to insure the stability of business and the
development of industry, as well as the protection of the
individual.

These six offices of the state are the leading functions gen-
erally agreed upon, but there are coming into existence func-
tions which formerly were not considered as belonging to
the state, but were left entirely to other institutions. Even
now there is not always uniformity of opinion in regard to
their falling to the state, being sometimes considered as optional
functions. But we shall treat them simply as duties imposed
upon the modern state.

7. The Regulation of Industry, Trade, and Labor Condi-
tions.— The regulation of industry is now being attempted
by the state, taking such forms as the curbing of trusts, the
preventing of the crushing of competition, the requirement
of honesty in business relations, and the control over labor
disputes, enuf at least to insure the protection of the public
against strikes and lockouts. Compulsory arbitration, mini-
mum wage, the eight-hour day, and governmental commis-
sions, such as the Inter-state Commerce Commission and Fed-
eral Trade Commission, are examples resulting from the appli-

236 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

cation of this function. The regulation of wages and pro-
vision of social insurance against unemployment, sickness, and
accident under this office. Formerly these were considered
individual affairs but it is now being more and more con-
sidered as the functions of the state to regulate such matters.

8. The Protection of Public Health. — Requirements for
sanitation, protection against contagious diseases, inspection
of factories, requirement of safety devices for dangerous
machinery, building codes, milk inspection, street cleaning,
anti-spitting laws, sewage and garbage disposal, and laws for-
bidding the adulteration of foods are good illustrations of the
working out of the public health protection office of the state.
This is a function which is being constantly extended.

9. Education. — Until very recently education was a pri-
vate matter; in fact when the socialists first began to advo-
cate public education, it was considered a radical if not dan-
gerous theory. Now we accept it without any dispute, except
in regard to its extension. At first it meant only elementary
education; then it was extended in intermediate, such as the
high school; then finally to college and university education,
and now to industrial and professional training. Private edu-
cation has not, however, been driven from the field; in the
higher places it is holding its own and supplying a valuable
addition to public education. It is coming to be recognized
as the duty of the state to educate its citizens in any legiti-
mate calling or profession as far as they care to go. In the
immediate future we can look for a great extension of this
function of the state, especially along the lines of industrial
and technical training.

10. Care of the Dependent and Defective Classes. — The
burden of the care of the unfortunate has been lifted from
the shoulders of the individual and the church, altho neither
is eliminated or discouraged from doing what each is able
to do. Attention is being extended to the sick who are not
able to care for themselves, and is now taking the form of
protection against sickness by means of health insurance. It
is being recognized more and more that it is the duty of the
state to care for the aged or at least to see that they do not
fall into want; not only to see that they do not actually
suffer, but also that they enjoy comfort, especially if they
have lived hard-working, industrious lives. It is also coming
to be recognized as a function of the state to prevent poverty
as far as possible by the regulation of industry and by insur-

THE STATE; 237

ance against low wages and bad industrial conditions. The
process of working out this function is changing from one
of mere relief to one of prevention. The aim is not only
to care for the dependent and defective classes, but to pre-
vent the formation of such classes in the future.

11. Regulation and Prohibition of Industries and Activi-
ties Considered as injurious to the Public. — The regulation
or prohibition of the liquor business, control of the sale of
drugs, censorship of theatres, the forbidding the use of pois-
onous phosphorus in the manufacture of matches, licensing
of pool halls, and the suppression of gambling, in short the
curbing or preventing of anything considered detrimental to
the public welfare — all this is now considered a duty of
the state.

12. The Right to Carry on Industry. — Formerly state
monopolies were allowed for revenue purposes but now it
is coming to be recognized that as soon as the state can carry
on a business or industry better than an individual can or
does do so it is the right and duty of the state to take up
this work. In this respect the world is becoming more social-
istic. This theory did not meet with much favor in the United
States until our entry into the great war. Since the war there
has been a reaction against this policy, but the arguments for
and against such a policy center upon whether the government
is able to carry on the business in manner more satisfactory to
the public than private individuals, rather than upon whether
the government has the right to undertake industry or should
go into business.

Evolution of the Forms of Government. — In the early
days of human society there was very little government, for
during the periods of the horde and matriarchy the condition
of anarchy generally prevailed. Then when government did
emerge, it took ordinarily the form of the rule of one or a
few, that the rule of the strong arm. Later this took mon-
archial or oligarchial form. Law was generally the arbitrary
will of these rulers. But as civilization advanced, the demand
arose for a diffusion of the governmental authority and con-
stitutional rights and privileges were gradually extended; then
constitutions, like the English constitution, slowly grew. With
such development constitutional monarchies, democracies, and
republics emerged. We of course can set no time for any
of these steps, for we find democracies existing early in the
history of the world; in fact some very primitive tribes have

238 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

democratic forms of government. Many of these so-called
rarly democracies, particularly the early Greek states, were
not democracies as we consider a democracy today, for the
right to enjoy political privileges was limited to a few. The
present-day republic is simply the modern method of carry-
ing out this demand of the people for a share in the govern-
ment; yet many constitutional monarchies give as many and
in fact often more rights than some republics. We cannot
here go into a discussion of government, the forms it has taken,
and an analysis of each ; that study belongs to political science.
Our treatment comprises only its development as a social
institution and its social functions and does not include the
study of the machinery of government, interesting as such a
study is. The whole tendency has been towards the grant-
ing to the individuals in the state a greater share in the gov-
ernment as well as more equal rights and privileges. A still
more modern tendency is towards the centralization of power
in this government and the extension of the duties and func-
tions of the state. In short the world is becoming not only
more democratic but also more socialistic. Such a develop-
ment was impossible till the mass of humanity reached a state
of civilization where it was capable of receiving such duties
and privileges. In this manner the state has developed as
fast as society allowed it to develop; it has been the product
of society, evolving as rapidly as society needed it.

READING REFERENCES

WILSON, WOODROW, The State.

WILLOUGHBY, W. W., The Government of Modern States.

WILLOUGHBY, W. W., The Nature of the State.

MORGAN, L. H., Ancient Society, Part II.

GIDDINGS, Principles of Sociology, Part II, Chap. IV, pp. 199-360.

GARNER, J. W., Introduction to Political Science, Especially Chap. IV.

LEACOCK, STEPHEN, Elements of Political Science, Especially Chaps. II

and III.

BLACKMAR, F. W. AND GH.LIN, J. L., Outlines of Sociology, pp. 157-190.
GETTELL, R. G., Problems of Political Evolution. One of very best

references.

WARD, L. F., Pure Sociology, Chap. X.
THOMAS, W. I., Source Book for Social Origins, Part VII.
ROUSSEAU, J. J., The Social Contract.

CHAPTER XIII
RELIGION AND ETHICS

Because of the sacredness attached to religion it is always
a difficult subject to treat in a scientific manner. As soon
as one attempts such a study, he is certain to be branded
with the mark of atheist, agnostic, materialist, or heretic, no
matter how lofty and conscientious may be his motive or how
elevating and uplifting the result of the study. It sometimes
seems that religion is one thing which the average person has
settled as far as he is concerned; it seems that he cannot
bear to have anyone else advocate a different theory or offer
any other explanation or interpretation. Nearly everybody
has his own interpretation of the Bible (which, however, in
most cases was made up for him by somebody else) and he
brands as wrong every other interpretation. The same atti- ^
tude is held in regard to other religions; each person thinks
he has a rnonogoly upon the truth. While we are slowly relin-
quishing THIsidea, it still prevails. There is also a great
deal of difference of opinion in regard to the effects of relig-
ion upon society; some people give it credit for all social
progress, while others are equally confident that religion has V
been a hinderance to progress ; the advocate of each of these
theories has no difficulty in furnishing abundance of evidence
in support of his belief, one pointing to reforms in government,
education, the family, and social life, and others pointing
to the horrors of the Spanish inquisition, the torture of the
Christians in the Roman arena, Druid worship in Briton,
and the human sacrifices demanded in worship by the Aztecs,
asserting furthermore, with a great deal of truth, that some
of the greatest horrors in the history of man have been
committed in the name of religion. Thfj. truth of the matter
is that both are right; the effect of religious activity depends *
upon the time, place, and character of the religion under dis-
cussion. Religion cannot be overlooked as one of the most
important forces in the development of civilization. Sociology
makes no attempt to discuss theism or theological doctrines;

239

240 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF1 SOCIOLOGY

it considers the religious tendency of man as one of the innate
human characteristics affecting his life; it studies the develop-
ment of religion as an institution and notices its effect upon
human progress. The influence which religion wields as an
element of control we shall take up under the subject of
"Social Control"; so we shall not consider that phase at
any length here; neither shall we consider the psychology or
philosophy of religion, leaving that to other sciences. There-
fore the chief interest of sociology in religion is as a social
institution and as an element of social control; the former
we shall now take up.

Evolution of Religion. — There is a great deal of differ-
ence of opinion even as to what should be included under
the name of religion, and as a result we have an endless num-
ber of definitions; in fact almost every writer on religion has
a different definition and conception of the subject. For the
purpose of the sociologist Menzies1 gives perhaps the best defi-
nition of religion, calling it the "worship of higher powers
from a sense of need", which implies the belief in some
power or powers more potent than that of the individual. It
includes a feeling of dependence and need, a feeling which
finds expression in acts of worship. While religious senti-
ment takes many forms, it is found among all races and is
admitted to be an innate trait of mankind.
'• Religion and civilization have advanced together, and in
this respect religion resembles other social institutions. We
must not expect to find a high religion among people living
in savagery or barbarism, for they could not appreciate a
lofty conception of religion; neither must we expect a religion
belonging to a low period of civilization to continue after
the people emerge from that condition, for they will not be
satisfied with it and will demand a loftier conception. So
religion, like other institutions, tends to reflect the stage of
progress achieved by a people. However, the forces that
influence the religion of a people may not be the same forces
that produce their form of government or their industrial
development ; hence we may find a conception of religion
in advance or behind the state of progress of other institu-
tions. Geographical environment, like that of Palestine and
its surrounding countries, might tend to stimulate religious
ideas and yet hinder economic development. So we must
not expect to find the same rate of development among all
raws. But we shall find that there has been a steady, if

'Menzies. Allan, "History of Religion", p. 13.

RELIGION AND ETHICS 241

not regular, evolution, the higher religion supplanting the
lower. Besides the different religions themselves are con-
stantly undergoing change, and while some religions degen-
erate, there is on the whole a constant tendency upward, relig-
ious conceptions steadily growing purer and loftier. In our
treatment of the evolution of religion we must include all
religions, whether degrading or elevating; we shall attempt
also to show the constant progress that has been made.

It is extremely difficult to describe the earliest form of
religion, or primitive religion in general, for the religion of
the savage is seemingly a bewildering confusion of all manner
of beliefs. It has been influenced by a vast number of forces
and has all kinds of extraordinary growths; so it is very hard
to reduce the evolution of religion to any definite order and
in any such series many exceptions must be allowed and few
dates or periods of time suggested. But in general the fol-
lowing seems to have been the approximate scheme of evolu-
tion:

1. Nature Worship. — Sometimes in discussions of primi-
tive religion animal worship is separated from the worship
of other objects of nature, such as rocks, mountains, the sun,
the moon, stars, trees, waterfalls, etc.; but in this study all
will be treated together, because the theories of worship
were much the same, the periods of time concerned were iden-
tical, and the effects were quite similar. Awe inspired by
nature was in all probability the original form of worship, if
any form of worship can be so called. Primitive man lived
in a world which he did not understand; he was surrounded
by all manner of dangers, many of which he did not see or
comprehend ;• so it is no wonder that he feared nature. Since
he could not explain many of the objects of nature about him,
it was only natural that he should look upon them as being
animated like himself; and if he did so and conceived them
as being more powerful than he, it was only natural that he
should attempt to obtain their good will and to get them
to aid him or at least not to injure him. So primitive man
began to worship the objects of nature which impressed him
most or that he feared most. If he lived in a country where
the rays of the sun were welcome, it followed that he should
worship the sun; for this reason the sun is probably the most
common object of worship among nature worshippers. If
he lived near a volcano or great water fall, primitive man
would be impressed by it and worship it. The same would

242 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF1 SOCIOLOGY

be true of any high mountain, large river, huge tree, great
rock, or any animals which were feared, such as the tiger,
lion, alligator, or poisonous snake like the cobra, or any
animal upon which man depended for food or raiment, as
the cow, bear, or buffalo. If the rain brot prosperity, it
might be worshipped. On the contrary the thunder, light-
ning, or tornado might be worshipped thru fear. The sea
and fire have been common objects of worship. At a later
time animals and other objects of nature were worshipped,
because they were considered as homes of spirits, especially
the spirits of ancestors; but this was not, however, the orig-
inal type of nature worship but a later development of it.

2. Spirit and Ancestor Worship; Spencer's "Ghost Theory".
— Primitive man could not realize the full meaning of death
and could not think of the person who died as leaving this
world entirely. He thot that the spirit must be simply leav-
ing the body or going upon a journey, and therefore apt to
return. Dreams would help to increase this belief in spirits;
in fact Spencer declared that belief in spirits came about in
this way. This conception of death, supplemented by dreams,
led primitive man to believe that the spirit was able to leave
the body and to dwell at a distance from it, or upon death
to come back and perhaps enter into some object of nature,
as a tree, or animal, or to return to his old hut. His shadow,
his reflection in water, and the echo of his voice went still
further to prove to the savage the truth of such a belief in
spirits. Sometimes the savage would look upon this spirit as
a friend and sometimes as an enemy, depending largely upon
whether the person was liked or feared in life. Efforts were
made to appease the ill will or gain the good will of a spirit
by means of prayers, offerings, praises, and even flattery.
Also attempts were made to ward off its bad effects or to
protect one's self against it by means of signs and charms,
and even by such methods as striking a spear in the ground
when lying down to sleep. While many of these customs
and actions seem strange to us, the theory is logical enuf.
The belief in spirits seems to have been almost universal, at
least the belief that the spirit lived after the body was gone;
and this notion furnished the basis for higher conceptions of
religion. Of course this belief in the immortality of the
spirit did not always take the form of ancestor worship, altho
in many places it did. Such customs as burying weapons,
food, clothing, and articles of every day use with the body

RELIGION AND ETHICS 243

and the killing of slaves or wives, in order to serve the departed
in the next world, are merely customs derived from the belief
in a future life. Herbert Spencer, imagining that religion orig-
inated from this belief worked out his famous "ghost theory"
of the origin of religion. He suggested that a savage, because
of overeating, or for some such cause, might have a dream,
perhaps of going on some hunting expedition, and yet be
told next morning by his wife or by someone else that he
had not stirred from his hut, but had tossed about all night;
that he might see his reflection in the pool of water; that
he might go into some canyon and shout and hear his voice
come echoing back from its walls; and that in this way he
would come to the natural conclusion that he had* a double,
which could leave him at will, especially when he slept. Sleep-
walking, delirium and swooning would only go still further
to confirm in the mind of the savage such a belief. From
this belief in a double personality came ancestor worship —
based on a feeling that the spirits of ancestors hovered about
— and the idea of transmigration of souls — that the spirit
of the dead person entered some animal or object of worship.
An animal with a scar which had a resemblance to a scar
carried by a man before his death was of course recognized
as the possessor of the soul of the dead man. Animal and
nature worship originated in this way, according to Spencer,
as a development of ancestor worship. In fact Spencer
•attempted to show that all religions originated in this fashion.
The theory was of course built upon too narrow a founda-
tion, for while possibly some religions began in this manner,
it is preposterous to assert that all religions evolved from
this idea. Ancestor worship still survives in many countries,
most noticeably in China, simply because the people have not
emerged as yet from this stage. In some countries it pre-
ceded nature worship, at least in certain forms, but as a rule
ancestor worship came later, being an outgrowth of nature
worship. It in turn gave way to higher forms, altho many
of the nobler phases of spirit worship survived and were car-
ried over by the higher religions in may instances. Like
nature worship spirit and ancestor worship was accompanied
by many strange customs and was much interwoven with
superstition and magic.

3. Fetish Worship. — In fetish worship an object is idol-
ized, not because the object itself is thot to be a divinity,
but because it is supposed to be the residence of a spirit or

244 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

god. In this way any striking object of nature or any unusual
object might be worshipped; it might be carried around as
a kind of good luck piece. This might be called a combina-
tion of the preceding two; it is an outgrowth of them. Many
of the so-called idols have been merely fetishes.

4. Worship oj a Supreme Being. — While usually a late
development the worship of a "supreme, all-powerful being
was sometimes used by primitive man. This at first took
the form of polytheism, or the worship of several gods, but
it gradually changed to monotheism by means of weeding
out the minor or less important gods. Sometimes this supreme
being was merely a mountain, a tree, or the sun, but it stood
out as supreme over other deities; gradually this belief became
loftier and purer, the worship of the lesser divinities being
abandoned. This gave the foundation for the highest exam-
ple of religion which we have today.

Each of these beliefs lays claims to being the original form
of religion, and with the exception of fetishism, which was
clearly the outgrowth of other forms, each undoubtedly was
in some places the original. But on the whole we must
regard nature worship as the beginning of the evolution of
religion, as it is the form generally found among the most
primitive people; so we treat it as the starting point in our
development of religion, altho we must make some allowance
for belief in a life after death.

Characteristics of Primitive Religion. — Sacrifices.—
When the savage looked upon god as a person, he naturally
thot that the god needed food and other necessities of life;
so he offered them to him. Sometimes these sacrifices were
destroyed entirely; in fact among some tribes a family may
become impoverished by the destruction of property caused
by making sacrifices occasioned by a death; at other times
the sacrifices were not destroyed but used again by the people.
Food used as an offering seldom was wasted. In countries
where cannibalism was or had been practiced these sacrifices
might take the form of human beings, generally slaves, altho
women and children were often used. Hindu mothers even
today frequently throw their babies into the Ganges as offer-
ings. The early Greeks before starting upon a great expedi-
tion would sacrifice a beautiful girl, and the Spartans allowed
their children to be flogged to death before the temple of
Diana. The sacrifice of animals succeeded human sacrifice,
and has always been the most general offering. In this way,

RELIGION AND ETHICS 245

especially among the Jews, sacrifices took the nature of a
sign of atonement for sins or as a means of warding off
punishment.

Prayer. — Prayer is the normal method of appealing to
the god and is one of the natural accompaniments of relig-
ion, particularly of fetish worship. Prayer is the logical
attendant of sacrifices; in fact it is the method of telling
what is the object of making the sacrifice; it states the request
that is made of the god. While to some extent present in
most religions, its importance increases with the rise of the
religion.

Sacredness. — Because of the religious association objects
connected with worship attain an air of sacredness, especially
the fetishes, temples and places of worship; any object or
ceremony or service connected with the carrying out of relig-
ion becomes invested with sacredness. This still continues,
and at times has increased with progress of religion.

Magic. — Vitally related to and infinitely confused with
early religion was magic. Professor Thomas takes the view
that magic with the savage is of higher importance than
religion, because it assumes a scientific attitude 'in that it is
the attempt to explain things and thus becomes the fore-
runner of modern science. In nearly every tribe there was
some person or persons similar to the medicine men of the
American Indians, whose function was to interpret signs,
foretell the future, exercise power over the spirits, either
in warding off calamity or in bringing things desired, cure the
sick, and do those things which were beyond the power of the
average man. In carrying out all these duties this person —
the witch doctor — resorted to magic ; in this way magic along
with superstition, played quite an important part in primi-
tive religion. But as the religion became elevated, it grad-
ually purged itself of these hindrances, altho most religions
are not yet entirely clear of them.

Importance of Primitive Religion. — Formerly religion was
of greater social importance than it is today; it was not nec-
essarily more vital to civilization, but it took up more of the
life of the savage. With him religion entered into every act
of life. The gods had to be consulted before any important
event took place, even after the state of savagery was passed;
the Romans would never undertake any war or military expe-
dition or engage in any battle unless the signs were favora-
ble. The king or chief was also high priest at first, and,

246 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF1 SOCIOLOGY

as we noticed in the last chapter, church and state were one;
it was not until very recent times that they became sepa-
rated. Religion was a tribal affair, and every member of
the tribe not only adopted the religion of the tribe, but took
his or her part in the services or ceremonies. Religious
dances formed an important element in religibn in the same
manner that the dance formerly played an important part
in all phases of the life of the savage. Religious feasts were
often held in times of harvest, and all religious functions were
of great significance.

The moral effect of religion was chiefly in the way of pro-
ducing tribal solidarity, in holding back the tendencies to
excess. It would tolerate those things which were of help
to the tribe and forbid those things which were injurious.
It developed tribal loyalty, obedience to the chief, observ-
ance of tribal customs and submergence of individual inter-
ests to tribal interests. In practice it acted as a strong con-
servative force, checking and discouraging individual initia-
tive and independence. In this way it was a hindrance to
reform and gave little chance for original thinking; in fact
it discouraged it. This unfortunately is a tendency which
all religions have too strictly fostered: it is one which we
are even to this day struggling to overcome. While primi-
tive religion held the individual in a safe and sane way, it
often was an impediment to progress.

Before we can get a really good picture of the evolution
of religion we must consider the development of national
religions and take up a study of the leading religions of today,
not so much from a theological standpoint as from that of
growth and influence.

The Growth of National Religion From Tribal
Religion. — As one god became more important, its worship
spread, and because of some superior appeal to the people
it came into greater popularity. Altho each tribe tended
to keep its own objects of worship, unless it was conquered
by some other tribes, the gods of the stronger and more
important tribes began to supplant the gods of the weaker
peoples because of the greater confidence reposed in them.
At first the religion which appealed to the primitive mind
tended to survive, but as man began to mount higher and
higher in the scale of civilization, the religions which had
higher conceptions of divinity and were loftier in their teach-
ings survived and grew at the expense of the lower and

RELIGION AND ETHICS 247

inferior religions. Also the religions which were detrimental
to the group, such as those permitting or demanding human
sacrifices, thus either killing off their own population directly,
or indirectly by fighting for captives to offer as sacrifices,
were weeded out. The tribes which had such religions lost
out in the struggle for existence, and of course their religions
crumbled with them. On the other hand religions which
stood for customs and habits which were advantageous to
the group, for instance those advocating monogamy, and good
treatment of women and opposing infanticide and slavery,
increased in strength, because their groups increased in num-
bers and power. In this way the higher religion's supplanted
the lower. Then as tribes became more powerful, they com-
pelled other tribes to adopt their gods, either by force of
arms or by example. The weaker tribes were generally will-
ing to do so, because they wanted the favor of what they
considered to be powerful gods. In this way national religion
supplanted tribal religion; it was simply the enlarging of
the scope and territory of the beliefs which were superior.
Then, too, by coming into contact with other religions even
these superior religions improved, adopting in many cases
the strong features of other religions. Hence as the scope
and power of religions increased, the religions themselves
became more elevated.

The Religions of Early Babylon and Egypt. — Of the
three seats of early culture, Chaldea (or Early Babylon),
Egypt, and China, Chaldea was in all probability not only
the earliest but the center of the other two. Other peoples,
especially the Hebrews, derived their inspiration to a great
extent from Early Babylon, the Laws of Moses being traced
back in many particulars to the Code of Hammurabi, which
antedated the laws of Moses by many centuries. The people
of Early Babylon were cosmopolitan; in fact, Hammurabi, the
first great king, ruled a collection of many peoples, who
spoke many tongues. As a consequence their religion was
not a pure religion but a mixture of many beliefs. There
was a belief in spirits; the world was thot to be full of such
spirits, which could only be controlled by means of charms
and magic. These spirits were supposed to be responsible
for all pain and disease as well as misfortune; thus the cruelty
and superstition of the Babylonians are partially accounted
for. Nature worship was also interwoven into the spirit wor-
ship. There was a vast number of gods, both great and minor,

248 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

the worship of one predominating in one city, and that of
another in another city; hence there was no common system.
The most of these were represented by animal emblems. The
religion was too complicated to develop into a real state
religion. While the higher religion of Babylon took the form
of worship of a human overlord, who controlled the destinies
of man, it never fully drove out the old belief in spirits and
never stopped the making of sacrifices to them. Altho it
was a confusion of beliefs, with many cults, and never came
near to monotheism, the religion of Babylon was an advance
from the previous timid trafficking with spirits thru fear,
toward the service of gods which were looked upon as friends
of man. When Babylon was absorbed into the Persian Em-
pire, it lost its religion, which was not sufficiently developed
to survive.

Egypt is a country which has always been surrounded by
an air of veneration and mystery, even before the Hebrews
went to live there, for the Shepherd Kings, who reigned there
at that time, found an old civilization. Part of this civiliza-
tion consisted of a religion which was elaborately worked
out — a religion which was a combination of many faiths
and the product of many forces, for Egypt had been conquered
many times and each conquest had made its impression upon
the religion by leaving some new feature. Thus the earliest
religion which we can find in Egypt was the resultant of many
still earlier religions. It contained remnants of animal wor-
ship, as illustrated by the enormous temples which were
erected to sacred animals, particularly the ibis, cow, and
cat, and by the fact that those animals were sacred in the
provinces in which they were worshipped. Alongside of this
was the worship of higher gods, such as the sun, moon, and
sky. Chiefs among these gods was Ra, meaning "sun", who
was supposed to be a kindly old king and warrior, who guided
the soul thru the underworld, of which he was also lord, and
concerning whom there was a great deal of mythology. There
was a family of gods similar to the Greek family of gods,
consisting of Osiris, the sun god of Abydos, his wife and sister,
Isis, and brother, Set. While Osiris was the embodiment
of light and purity, Set was supposed to represent the oppo-
site; he was the embodiment of all evil, particularly the desert,
darkness, the hot south wind, sickness, and what seems strange
to us, red hair. Between Osiris and Set there was constant
hostility, and we have the story of the death of Osiris, the

RELIGION AND ETHICS 249

search for the body by Iris, and the avenging of the death
by the son, Horus. While by no means monotheistic Egyp-
tian religion approached monotheism thru the survival of the
stronger gods and the predominance of one god in each city
or province. Each place had its own favorite god and
attempted to make that god supreme, but there was no unity
of belief in any particular one, altho all the gods seemed to
become thot of as sun gods; therefore Egyptian religion
tended to become different forms of sun worship.

Egyptian temples were residences of the gods, rather than
places of worship, images being placed in the temples so
that the gods might enter them. The worship of the gods
was celebrated by great festivals and parades, worship being
a public rather than a private function. The kings were sup-
posed to have descended from the gods, and it was one of
their chief cares to erect stately dwellings for the deities.

Egyptian religion included a belief in future existence. This
conviction motivated the care of the dead by means of
embalming the body and inspired the prevailing idea of the
duty of marrying in order to bring into the world children
who would pay the necessary attention to the body after
death. The pyramids were erected as tombs for the kings.
The belief was that the soul accompanied the sun god to the
underworld, where its lot depended upon how its possessor
had lived or had treated the god during life. While Egyptian
religion was an advance over what had preceded it, showed
possibilities of becoming a pure spiritual faith, and embodied
in it many ideas of correct living and of duty to neighbors,
it became degenerate and corrupt with the decay of Egyptian
civilization and the crumbling of that nation as a political
state. Reliance upon magic increased, pantheistic beliefs grew
in importance, and the priesthood became corrupt, despotic
and oppressive. While it undoubtedly contributed somewhat
to subsequent religions, its share was nothing in comparison
with that of other nations, particularly the Jews.

Both the Babylonian and Egyptian cults show how relig-
ions develop thru the coming together of many religions, in
the attempt to obtain a centralized worship the religion thrives,
grows purer, flourishes, and later declines and in turn gives
way to a loftier religion. The Babylonian and Egyptian relig-
ions were too cold and formal to become great religions, altho
they had some influence upon the development of other relig-
ious beliefs.

250 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF1 SOCIOLOGY

TTie Religion of Ancient Greece and Rome. — The

religion of Greece passed thru the same stages as other relig-
ions; however, because of the high state of culture, the rapid
growth of civilization, and the favorable location, which stim-
ulated the imagination and the philosophical and religious
development, it developed much more rapidly than the relig-
ions of other countries. The early history of Greece is so
much interwoven with mythology and intermingles to such
an extent the acts of men and of gods that it is very diffi-
cult to separate fact from fiction. While nature and spirit
worship at one time existed in Greece, they were early aban-
doned. The gods were functional gods and had distinctly
human attributes ; not only were they thot of as having human
bodies, but there were idealized as the perfection of the human
form. They had not only human bodies but even human
passions; they hated, loved, were jealous, and even stole like
human beings, only they were endowed with superhuman
powers. The Greek gods formed a family, Zeus being the
father and Hera the mother. The number of the gods and
goddesses increased without limit; the Athenians after estab-
lishing a vast number of temples and shrines erected one to
the "unknown god" for fear that they had omitted one. Each
city had its patron god or goddess; also each divinity repre-
sented a particular function. With Greek religion went a
belief in a future world inhabited by spirits who received
rewards or punishments, particularly the latter. Perhaps the
greatest effect of Greek religion was the inspiration it gave
to art, especially sculpture and poetry. Thru the religious
festivals and games it was an incentive to physical develop-
ment. While the gods were supposed to be guardians of
justice, righting wrongs and meting out punishments in both
this and the future world, and in this way to hold men in
restraint thru fear of punishment, the moral effect was almost
of indifferent values for the gods represented the prevailing
standards of morals. The gods were not distinctly good or
bad; they even quarreled among themselves; but they were
called upon in time of need and danger. The Greek religion
did not hold out a goal to be attained, such as the Nirvana
of Buddhism or the Heaven of Christianity. It did, however
prepare the way for Christianity, which easily supplanted the
Greek religion when the early Christian apostles preached the
new faith.

Rome offers perhaps the best example of the survival of

RELIGION AND ETHICS 251

the fittest in regard to religion. Early Roman religion was
anamistic, there being no real gods but a host of spirits,
which dwelt in nature. These nature spirits were worshipped
or appealed to not from a feeling of love but in a sense of
bargaining or contract, sacrifices and worship being given
in exchange for protection and help. There was the worship
of the Lares, or household gods, who were the spirits of the
ancestors, to whom prayers and offerings were made, because
they were supposed to give or withhold prosperity. This led
to the introduction of the worship of deified persons, like
Romulus and later Julius Caesar, which worship was added
to the previous religion. Roman religion became a part of
the state, no war or enterprise being undertaken without con-
sulting the gods and then not carried out unless the omens
were favorable. The religion was so complicated that it
required a priestly class to interpret the will of the gods or
the wishes of the spirits, a thing which they did by consult-
ing the entrails of animals offered as sacrifices and by inter-
preting the flights of birds. Instead of suppressing or ridi-
culing the beliefs of the peoples whom they conquered the
Romans respected them, looking upon their gods as real beings
with whom they themselves wished to be on good terms and
taking the attitude of toleration, instead of contempt or a
desire for suppression which most conquering nations up to
this time had exhibited. When Greece was reached and later
conquered, the Romans took over almost entirely the Greek
worship, especially their conception of the gods, only giving
the Greek gods and goddesses Latin names, and carried out
their worship to such an extent that many people think of
the Roman religion merely as an outgrowth of Greek religion.
This principle of toleration was abandoned after Christianity
invaded Italy and bid fair to supplant the former worship
by gaining tremendous popularity, noticeably with the lower
classes, especially the slaves. Then the government attempted
to stamp out Christianity by persecution, but in so doing
only spread it and hastened its final adoption by the entire
population. Thus thru competition the best elements of the
different religions survived until finally Christianity won the
supremacy over all competitors and became the dominant
religion. Increasing in force after the fall of Rome as a world
power, it became incorporated into the state and ruled Europe
for a long time politically, socially, morally, and religiously

252 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

in the form of the Catholic Church, which later split into the
Roman and Greek Catholic Churches.

The Great World Religions of Today. — This constant
evolution of religion is to be observed among the religions
of today as well as among those of antiquity, for there is
the same progress. The religions which serve and aid man-
kind the most are the ones which are increasing and which
are supplanting those that do not fulfill such functions. While
there are many religions in the world, five stand out above
all others, not only in the number of adherents but in their
social influence. So in order to carry out completely this
study of the evolution of religion we must take a brief glance
at the essential features of Confucianism, Brahmanism, Budd-
hism, Mohammedanism, and Christianity, taking them up
according to their rank in social importance and develop-
ment, altho this does not accord completely with the chron-
ological order of their origin.

1. Confucianism. — This, the most influential of the three
religions of China — Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism —
is typical of Chinese civilization, which has been looking back-
ward for centuries. While named after Confucius, a Chinese
sage and philosopher who is supposed to have lived from
550 to 478 B. C., it antedated him by many centuries, for
Confucius was chiefly a collector and preserver of the wisdom
of the past, altho he did add somewhat to it. He collected
this knowledge and handed it down in written form, of which
there are now preserved five or six books. To those books
is added a second set of classics edited by disciples of Con-
fucius, especially Mencius, which are supposed to contain
teachings of Confucius. The worship of Confucius himself
is the chief addition to the worship of the time prior to him.
Confucianism in reality is not much of a religion according
to our conception of religion, being more a system of philos-
ophy. There is nothing cruel or revolting or degrading in
the worship, no mythology, no idols, no priestly class, and
no bible even. Everything is dignified and well arranged.
It is essentially a religion of form, in which doctrine counts
for very little and in which action is not governed by any
code of ethics. The main thing is to do the proper thing at
the proper time in the proper way.

The objects of worship are of three classes: (a) heaven,
the principal Chinese deity, by which is meant the sky — the
blue air — which is conceived of as living and worshipped for

RELIGION AND ETHICS 253

itself and not as the residence of a power behind it; (b)-the
spirits, all good, generally spoken of in the plural sense, there
being one for each object of nature, conceived of not as flit-
ting around, but as being organized into a priesthood, and
worshipped in a body; (c) ancestors, the worship of whom
is the prescribed working religion of each individual. Belief
in the future world is centered in the idea of the continuation
of the family; it is thought to be the duty of everybody to
marry and rear descendants in order to carry on this wor-
ship. Tablets are placed in the home to the memory of these
ancestors; to these tablets the spirits of the ancestors are
supposed to come when properly invoked. The emperor must
sacrifice to all the emperors who have preceded him, and mag-
istrates to all who have held the office before them. This
homage is given, not for the sake of peace or aid, but because
of gratitude and devotion. The person offering sacrifices prays
to be worthy of offering them. There is no self humiliation,
for the Chinaman takes his religion complacently. Under
Confucianism religion is not separated from daily life; it is
a ritual fixed by tradition and carried out by custom and
habit. As taught by Confucius religion becomes a theory of
government and morals. In the way of social influence Confu-
cianism is largely responsible for the complacence of the Chin-
ese; it supplies one of the reasons for the backwardness of
China. Closely akin to Confucianism is Taoism, a cult founded
by Lao-tsze, which in its early days consisted of a higher code
of morals and self-discipline than Confucianism. It degener-
ated, however, into magic and, while it later borrowed the
apparatus of religion from Buddhism and became recognized, it
has never obtained a vital hold upon the people. Confucianism
never grappled with the social problems of the day or
attempted to reform things; it has merely tried to hold them
as they were. Its effect has been to keep its adherents from
advancing. Unlike many religions it has not degenerated or
become corrupt, but has remained much the same as it was
two thousand years ago — it has neither advanced nor degen-
erated.

2. Brahmanism. — This religion is the direct outgrowth
of the anterior Vedic religion, which was brot into India by
her conquerors. The Vedic religion was an advance over
the previous faith of Babylon, but was a combination of spirit
and nature worship; went further in its approach to mono-
theism by making one god at a time supreme, each one in

254 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

turn becoming dominants; all the gods were supposed to rep-
resent various manifestations of one supreme being. It had
risen beyond worship of idols or fetishes, thus producing higher
conceptions than had formerly prevailed. Based upon this
Vedic faith came Brahmanism, which cast aside the old ideas
of nature worship in favor of an inward subjective religious
attitude. New gods were introduced, chief of whom is
Brahma, who is also the head of a trinity consisting of Brahma,
the creator, Vishmu, the preserver, and Siva, the destroyer.
The conception of Brahma is not unlike our idea of Jehovah;
he is not only an external deity, but is also present in one's
own experience. But while Christianity teaches that we serve
God by serving our fellow-men, Brahmanism teaches that this
is done by getting away from mankind, by isolation and sepa-
ration ot self from the sin of the world. There is no distinc-
tion between good and bad works, for to be holy one must
keep clear from all that degrades or confuses. Salvation
is a matter of individual concern, there being no desire to
spread the light or to save others. Religion is gained thru
isolation; to be holy one must be alone. Connected with
Brahmanism are sacred books, including the sacred Vedic lit-
erature, supposedly inspired writings, hymns, treatises and law
books; there are also the famous laws of Manu, compiled
about A. D. 2000, a collection of rules designed to govern the
entire Hindu population. There is also required of the Brah-
mans, a complicated system of sacrifices, which have become
a matter of form. The social effects have been great, but
since only the individual is concerned, a hindrance to group
morality. Brahmanism has not attempted to relieve the suf-
fering of the people or lay hold of the problems of society.
It has allowed the people of India to live in poverty and
misery; it has made no attempt to break down the caste sys-
tem, but on the contrary has upheld it, because the priestly
class are on top of the social pyramid. Neither has it
attempted to elevate the position of woman; it has held her
down. These failures have been its great weakness, because
a religion to be successful must aid humanity; Brahmanism
has not done it. Its key-note is isolation and self -salvation.
It has, however, paved the way for Buddhism, which was an
outgrowth of it and which is the culmination of Indian
religion.

3. Buddhism. — Altho it originated in India, Buddhism
was banished from that country and is now extinct there:

RKLIGION AND ETHICS 255

it is found in China, Japan, Tibet, Java, Sumatra, Siam,
Burmah, and Ceylon and is divided into northern and south-
ern branches. While considered a revolt from Brahmanism,
it is simply the outgrowth of Brahmanism into a higher form.
Buddhism is a religion without a god, without prayer, with-
out a priesthood, without worship. It is a religion which
owes its success not to its theology or to its ritual, for it
has neither, but to its moral sentiment and to its external
organization. The term Buddha means the Enlightened One
or the Enlightener; there were supposed to have been twenty-
four of these Enlightened Ones before Gautama, the founder
of Buddhism, appeared. They were human but were sup-
posed to have reached a superhuman condition by passing
thru periods of renunciation and of compassion for man's suf-
fering and to have entered human life and borne the burden
of man's suffering. It is not negative like Brahmanism, but
positive and constructive. One achieves happiness thru a
life of right living; thus the religion has an extremely high
code of morals and ethics. It offers Nirvana, a place of sal-
vation, the Heaven of Buddhism; Nirvana, a place of lib-
eration and freedom, which one can reach even before death.
The way of reaching it is by a life of self-renunciation and
by suppression of the desires and passions. Under Buddhist
morality, which includes equality towards all and respect for
all living beings, are five rules of righteousness, which resem-
ble the ten commandments; they are binding on all followers
of Buddha. These are: (1) not to kill any living being;

(2) not to take that which is not given; (3) to refrain from
adultery; (4) to speak no untruth, and (5) to abstain from all
intoxicating liquors. To members of the order are added
the following: (1) not to eat after mid-day; (2) not to be
present at dancing, singing, the playing of music, or acting;

(3) not to use wreaths, ointments, scents, or personal orna-
ments; (4) not to use a high or a broad bed, and (5) to
possess no silver or gold.

Because there is no god, prayers, sacrifices, and priests
are unnecessary. Man must save himself by his own efforts.
While under Buddhism there are no priests, there are wan-
derers who leave home and travel about, teaching and prac-
ticing the religion; in this manner they resemble the monks
and friars of the Catholic Church.

Buddhism became marvelously popular because of its sim-
plicity, morality and broad humanity. But because of its

256 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

openness and freedom it has degenerated, becoming contami-
nated with magic and superstition in every land that it has
gone, for the simple reason that it was too lofty to be appre-
ciated and therefore was not suitable as a working religion
to the people with whom it dealt. While a lofty religion,
Buddhism even at its best is a sad religion, offering little
joy. While having deep compassion for the sufferings of
man, it has taken no means of reforming the world, concern-
ing itself only with winning individual adherents; so it has
had little social effect, altho it has not been reactionary in
the way Brahmanism has been. On the whole it is an exceed-
ingly free religion, allowing its followers to worship as they
see fit or not to worship at all. In loftiness it is probably
next to Christianity, with which it is competing for supremacy
in the East.

4. Mohammedanism. — In point of time this is the last
of the great religions, appearing six centuries after Chris-
tianity, and because of its recency it has incorporated many
of the Christian ideals; but .it borrowed still more from
Judaism, which it closely resembles. It was founded in
Arabia by Mohammed or Mahomet, who was born about
A. D. 570. Arabia is a desert country and is inhabited by
wandering tribes, who are held together by ties of kinship.
At the time of Mohammed Arabia had no settled religion,
but there was a confusion of nature and spirit worship, each
tribe having its own worship. The people generally did not
believe in the large collection of gods, especially the minor
ones; so the country was ready for a new religion. Both
Judaism and Christianity were known and respected in Arabia
but were not adopted to any extent because of the exclusive-
ness of the Hebrews and the widespread dislike for them, they
being unpopular because of their pride, exclusiveness, and
success as money lenders. Mohammed had traveled much
and thus had come into contact with both of these religions;
also while herding sheep he had had opportunity for medita-
tion and study. When he first started out to teach, he was
rejected and ridiculed at Mecca, but he was later accepted
and even welcomed at Medina, a more cosmopolitan place.
When he found he could not spread the faith much thru
persuasion, he adopted force and compelled all Arabia to
adopt Mohammedanism, giving them the choice of accepting
Mohammedanism or the sword; most of them chose the relig-
ion. He also showed great diplomacy and executive ability

K£LIGION AND ETHICS 257

in welding these tribes together and adopting enough of their
old faiths, especially pilgrimages and ceremonies, to win their
allegiance. After conquering Mecca he spared the city and
made it his capital. Before his death he started out upon
the conquest of the world but died before it was well under
way, leaving his plans to his followers, who carried them
out as far as they were able, sweeping over all of Asia Minor
and Northern Africa and entering Europe by way of Spain
and the Balkans. They were barely stopped from a conquest
of all Europe at the Battle of Tours, A. D. 732.

Mohammedanism includes a belief in one god, known as
Allah, and in angels, good and bad spirits, prophecy, revela-
tion, and a resurrection and judgment day, as well as a heaven
and a hell. Allah is conceived of as an all powerful and
just ruler. Mohammed represented himself as a prophet of
Allah. "There is no God but Allah, and Mohammed is his
prophet" was the slogan. Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, and
Jesus were also recognized as prophets. Hell is represented
as a place of torment and Heaven as a place of sensual pleas-
ure. In addition to faith, prayer, almsgiving, fasting, and
pilgrimages are duties of the Moslem. Every Moslem must
pray five times a *day and must, at least once during his life-
time, make a pilgrimage to Mecca. Drinking and gambling
are prohibited. To wage holy war is an obligation. The
Koran, which closely resembles the Old Testament, is the
Mohammed Bible. In reality Mohammedanism has many
points of similarity to Judaism, only it is adapted so as to
become a world religion. Mohammedanism, because of the
adaptability of the faith, the readiness of the people for it,
and the ability of its founder, had a growth which was mar-
velous in its rapidity. It is spreading swiftly today in Asia
and Africa, being the great rival of Christianity in Africa
and western Asia; and in many places it is more successful
than Christianity, because it is more easily understood by
the inhabitants of these countries. While a very advanced
religion, it lacks the high morality of Buddhism and the
warmth and love of Christianity; it is, however, a wonderful
advance over the previous religions of the people who now
embrace it and must be counted as one of the great world
religions, both as to numbers and in loftiness of thought.

5. Christianity. — Any treatment of Christianity should be
prefaced by one of Judaism, of which it is an outgrowth, but
because of lack of space and general familiarity with the

(H)

258 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

principles of Judaism — or at least assumed familiarity, for
no person can lay any claim to be educated who is not
acquainted with the teachings of the Old Testament — pre-
vents it here. At the time of the coming of Christ Judaism
had become hardened into mere formality and needed rejuve-
nation; Christianity fulfilled that need by replacing the relig-
ion of form by one of love.

Christianity is not a religion of fear — altho many have
tried to make it such — but one of inspiration, one which leads
instead of driving. It is not a religion of definite rules
but one of freedom and inner guidance, rather than of exter-
nal law or system. When Christianity appeared, the world
was in need of a higher religion, hence its rapid rise and pros-
perity. It later became hardened into too definite a system
under the Roman and Greek Catholic churches, and still later
under many of the Protestant sects, perhaps most noticeably
the Puritans and the Church of England; but in all divisions
it is constantly throwing off the control of individuals and
the opinions of a few and allowing greater and greater indi-
vidual freedom, especially in the Protestant denominations.
There is less quarreling over matters of opinion and greater
eagerness to go on to higher conception of religion and wider
fields of usefulness. Because Christianity is essentially a relig-
ion of freedom, hope, and love it is best adapted to become
a universal religion. While it is without doubt our loftiest
religion and at present our greatest achievement in the evolu-
tion of religion, it has not as yet reached its height or its
greatest usefulness, but is constantly advancing as fast as
humanity is able to appreciate it.1

Evolution of Ethics. — Ethics, or the study of morals,
is a separate science in itself and has its subdivisions, like
sociology; theoretical ethics deals with the theory of morals
and practical ethics like human conduct. Sociology is closely
connected with ethics, especially with what is called social
ethics; but it especially with moral codes that sociology is

•The latest estimates as to the probable number of adherents to these great relig-
ions is as follows, altho these estimates are of course open to criticism:

Confucianists 100,000,000

Brahmanists 175,000,000

Buddhists 150,000,000

Mohammedans 200,000,000

Christians 500,000,000

' Roman Catholics 250,000,000

Protestants 150,000,000

Greek Catholics 100,000,000

Judaists 8,000,000

RELIGION AND ETHICS 259

interested; their influence in controlling society and their
origin and development. We takes these codes for granted;
but they were always so taken, and even now they differ
with the time, place, and condition. We have codes of con-
duct in regard to the handling of property, those forbidding
stealing, for illustration, but our interpretation of just what
is stealing or immoral use of property is constantly changing.
We have codes in regard to telling the truth, but the Chinese
and African have different codes. Codes of -family morality
have been and are still evolving. Religious codes differ with
the religion and the time. Under Puritanism all labor and
recreation were forbidden on the Sabbath, but we are making
different codes in regard to the Sabbath observance. We
have codes in regard to injury to others, assault being for-
bidden, etc. We have codes in regard to wearing clothing,
but the amount and nature differ with the time and place.
We cannot here take up a study of these different codes.
We merely mention them as part of our social evolution.
These codes have not all evolved in the same way, being
affected by geographical environment and other conditions
in a manner similar to other social institutions. Religion has
been one of the greatest factors in their development ; economic
and industrial progress has also conditioned their growth. We
could neither develop codes in regard to property until there
was property, nor frame them concerning industrial organi-
zation till we had that organization. Some point out the
steps by which moral codes evolve, stating that at first they
were the products of instinct, the idea of justice being an
innate tendency, etc.; that then they were the results of
attention, of conscious direction, and control; and then lastly
that they became habits and were carried out unconsciously.
When we take up our study of groups we shall find that the
group has always tried to condemn those things which were
disadvantageous to the group and to approve those actions
which were advantageous; in this way group morality devel-
oped. In fact most moral codes have developed as group
codes. Moral codes are never settled, for new conditions
are constantly creating new problems to be solved. Take the
question of justice; every new invention upsets to some extent
the code of justice which we had, and we must adapt our code
to the new condition. In short, moral codes are the product
of society and are conditioned by social progress. They also
help mould society and aid or retard further progress. While

260 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF1 SOCIOLOGY

much of morality is due to some extent of innate tendency,
the vast bulk of it is determined by the conditions of society,
and like other social institutions is the product of society.

READING REFERENCES
Religion :

BLACKMAR, F. W. AND GILLIN, J. L., Outlines of Sociology, Part II,

Chaps. XII and XIII.
MENZIES. ALLAN, History of Religion.
MOORE, G. F., History of Religion.
STARBUCK, E. D., Psychology of Religion.
TYLOR, EDWARD B., Primitive Culture, Chaps. XI-XVII.
LUBBOCK, SIR JOHN, Origin of Civilization, Chaps. IV-VI.
CROZIER, JOHN B., Civilization and Progress, Part IV.
CROZIER, JOHN B., Religion of the Future.
JASTROW, MORRIS, The Study of Religion.

SPENCER, HERBERT, Principles of Sociology, Vol. I, Chaps. VIII-XXVI.
HAYES, EDWARD C., Introduction to the Study of Sociology, Chap.

XXX.

ORCHARD, The Outlook for Religion.
Ethics:

WESTERMARCK, E., Origin and Development of Moral Ideas, 2 Vols.

SOUTHERLAND, A., Origin and Growth of the Moral Instinct, 2 Vols.

LECKY, W. E. H., History of European Morals, Vol. I.

DEWEY, JOHN AND TUFTS, J. H., Ethics.

BLACKMAR, F. W. AND GILLIN, J. L., Outlines of Sociology, Part II,

Chap. XI.

f

CHAPTER XIV
EDUCATION

In this chapter education will be treated as an institution
of society, and an attempt will be made to outline in a gen-
eral way the evolution of education. While a broad view
of the subject will be taken, particular attention will be given
to school systems as representing in concrete fashion the dif-
ferent forms of education.

Primitive Education. — Education in its simplest form
is seen among primitive peoples. There is no school, and
education is largely a matter of imitation, being to a great
extent unconscious. The purpose is, however, much the same
as that recognized in our most highly developed school sys-
tems — namely, fitting the youth for life. With primitive
man as with modern man knowledge is essential to the main-
taining of life. Primitive man must understand nature in
order to keep alive, and the primitive child needs training
in the art of obtaining food, clothing, and, if the climate is
unfavorable, shelter. He must know how to avoid the wild
animals and how to hunt or fish. In order to progress each
generation must profit by the experience of the preceding ones.

WThile the bulk of primitive instruction comes thru observa-
tion and imitation, there are various methods of supplying
definite training and instruction to the youth. One of the
best known of these is the initiation ceremony. Among most
primitive peoples every boy before entering upon the duties
and dignity of manhood is obliged to go thru an initiation
ceremony. In many tribes girls are compelled to perform
similar rites before they are recognized as women. This
initiation generally comes during the period of puberty and
lasts several days and sometimes for weeks and months. Often
the novice is obliged to go thru ceremonies that are symbolic
or religious. During these ceremonies the youth is taught
the legends and history of the tribe and the significance of
the various celebrations, songs, dances, and rites. Instruc-
tion is given in religion, also in tribal and family duties. The

261

importance of the occasion, as well as that of the instruction,
is impressed upon the mind of the youth by the seriousness
of the instructors and the ceremony and dignity attached to
the rites. The life of primitive man is as a rule hard, one
in which he is obliged to endure hunger, cold, and pain; to
fit himself for this life the youth is usually compelled to
pass rigid examinations. He is generally forced to endure
pain without flinching; he endures such tests as having teeth
knocked out, smoking or burning over a fire, and flogging.
Frequently the boy carries to the grave the scars made during
his initiation ceremony. He is often required to fast for a
time or to procure his own food without assistance; or he
may be compelled to abstain from certain foods. So severe
are these initiations that among some tribes it is not at all
uncommon for youths to die under them. The rites for girls
are ordinarily not so severe, nor are they carried out with so
great care because of the lesser importance of females in the
eyes of society.

By means of these initiations young men are taught obedi-
ence and respect for their elders. Also much practical instruc-
tion is given in methods of capturing certain animals, in the
art of making fire, of the importance of marriage, and con-
cerning the duty of supplying the family. However, much
superstition and magic are also taught, such as belief in spirits,
animal worship, etc. Because of this, primitive education has
had little progressive value other than the adjustment to
one's environment. It did have value in teaching group
solidarity; in this way it contributed its part to the preser-
vation of man and the continuance of races. As society
advanced and the needs of man changed, it gave way to
other methods of instruction.

Oriental Education. — Chinese Education. — The second
stage in educational development has been preserved almost
to the present day by many of the Oriental nations, but par-
ticularly by China, which continued its ancient system down
to the beginning of the twentieth century. With the Chinese
formal education consisted in the mastery of language and
literature. The Chinese language is ideographic and not
phonetic, and as a result there is a different character for
each idea. While the bulk of their educational material con-
tains only about 5,000 different characters, it has been esti-
mated that exclusive of synonyms and obsolete words there
are 25,000 characters, and including all forms the number

EDUCATION 263

is carried to about 260,000. These characters have to be
learned by memory. Chinese education consisted in (1) the
mastery of these language forms; (2) committing to memory
the sacred texts, and (3) the study of commentaries on these
texts, for the purpose of acquiring the sacred literary style.
In the carrying out of this scheme of education there was a
system of schools which led up to and prepared for a sched-
ule of governmental examinations. Each village or commu-
nity had its elementary school, taught by some unsuccess-
ful candidate for the degrees or by the holder of a lower
degree who was without an office. Here by a system of
imitation and memorizing the student learned to read and
write the different characters, altho little connection was made
between the two processes, the child often not knowing the
meaning of either. On account of the poverty of the people
few ever attended these schools, and of those who did attend
only about one in twenty ever managed to pass beyond the
elementary grade. Above the elementary schools the higher
education consisted of the memorizing of the nine sacred
classics and their commentaries. For those who failed in
the examinations or were not successful in obtaining appoint-
ment to offices — and most of them did fail — education
instead of preparing for life unfitted them for entering an
ordinary occupation, for to do so would have brought about
the loss of prestige. Many resorted to teaching, thus over-
crowding that occupation.

The center of the Chinese educational system was the series
of three governmental examinations for degrees and office.
These examinatons consisted of the writing of verse and
prose essays on themes taken from the sacred writings. From
those who passed the lower examinations the minor govern-
mental officials were chosen, and from those who passed the
higher examinations the chief officials of the empire were
selected. Also from those who passed the third examination
a few were selected by a further private examination before
the emperor to form his cabinet. The educational system
was the royal road to preferment and advance. Each degree
brot its own reward, as well as the opening up of an oppor-
tunity to advance still higher. Because of this fact many
spent their entire lives in the endeavor to pass these exami-
nations. The whole educational system conduced to this end.

The Chinese method was memory and imitation. No
attempt was made to develop originality or creative power;

264 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

these were suppressed. Now, however, this whole system is
rapidly being replaced by western methods. While it pre-
served the past, it stifled progress and was largely responsi-
ble for holding China back from advancement.

Hindu Education. — Quite similar to the education of China
was that of India. There education was based upon the sacred
Vedic literature and training in the laws and traditions. A
great deal of it consisted of study of the mystical Brahman
religion and the Hindu Philosophy of asceticism and isola-
tion. Schools were kept by Brahmans, and to these not
only Brahmans were permitted to go, but also members of
the warrior and industrial classes, altho few from these classes
attended. The workers and outcasts were deprived of edu-
cational rights. So in practice education was a matter of
caste and was almost limited to the Brahman of priestly
caste. While by no means as barbarous and clumsy a sys-
tem as the Chinese education among the Hindus was not
progressive. It did not try to fit for life, for it consisted
largely of the stuffing of the memory with the traditions and
learning of the past. New methods and studies were forbid-
den. Even more than the Chinese system it affected but a
small part of the population, fully 95 per cent being deprived
of it. In both countries education was forbidden to women,
or rather women were not considered worthy of education.

Jewish Education. — Jewish education might be termed a
sort of connecting link between Oriental and Occidental sys-
tems of education. While it consisted largely in a study of
sacred literature — the Old Testament, which was the Jewish
law — it did give more opportunity for the development of
personality than the systems of such countries as China and
India. It was non-progressive and did not invite new theories
or methods. It did not give any opportunty for the develop-
ment of science and art. Like the Hindu education it was
restricted largely to the priestly class and was not open to
the great mass of the population. In the matter of schools
it was not so highly developed as the educational system of
China, which had a regular system of schools. Most of the
teaching was done in the temples, and regular schools were
not organized until the close of the national life of the race.

Greek Education. — Real educational progress began with
the Greeks. Here the past was not worshipped as in the
Orient, and progress was made. The methods of education,

EDUCATION 265

however, differed with the ideals of the individual state, those
of Athens and Sparta being the extremes.

Spartan education was almost wholly physical and was a
preparation for service to the state. It was severe and stern,
even cruel at times, and was required of all Spartans, who,
however, made up only about one-twentieth of the popula-
tion. Because of this great inferiority in numbers the Spar-
tans were obliged to be a superior race of fighters, and their
whole system of training had that end in view. The infant
was inspected at birth, and if sickly or deformed was "exposed"
to die in the mountains. If healthy, the child was allowed
to remain with its mother till seven years old, when it was
placed in barracks and trained by the state. Here the youth
was subject to discipline and spent his time in drilling and
gymnastic exercises. The boys were taught to live a simple
life by means of hard beds and scanty clothing and diet.
Slight intellectual training was given; that provided was of
such a nature as the memorizing of the laws of Lycurgus and
selections from Homer. Each boy was given an adult adviser.
At the age of eighteen training in arms and methods of war-
fare was begun, varied by a severe flogging every ten days
before the temple of Artemis. This continued for two years,
when the youth entered the regular army and was assigned
to a border fortress, where he was compelled to live on the
coarsest of fare. At the age of thirty every man was com-
pelled to marry at once, as he was supposed to have reached
man's estate. He could, however, live with his wife only clandes-
tinely, being obliged to remain in the barracks and assist in the
training of the boys. Similar education was marked out for
the girls, in order that they might become mothers of sturdy
sons, only they remained at home. The whole system was
designed to create strong warriors; it did to a wonderful
degree accomplish its purpose. On the other hand Sparta
accomplished nothing in art, literature, or philosophy, and
contributed little if anything to civilization other than the
giving of examples of heroism, physical endurance, indiffer-
ence to pain and discomfort.

Athenian Education. — In early Athens education of the
youth by training for service to the state was quite similar
to that in Sparta. Training began at the age of seven, but
it was not limited to physical drill. Along with physical exer-
cises (which lacked the severity of the Spartan regime) went
education in music, reading, and writing. Moral training and

266 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

discipline were given by a slave, called a pedagogue. At fif-
teen the Athenian youth took advanced training on the gym-
nazia, or exercising ground, and was given permission to go
and come as he chose. At eighteen he took the oath of loy-
alty to Athens and entered upon a period of two years mili-
tary training, first at Athens, then at a fortress on the fron-
tier. At twenty he became a citizen, but his education con-
tinued in the drama, in architecture, in sculpture, and in art.
The weakness of the Athenian system was that the women
were neglected entirely, except for training in houshold duties.
Aside from this defect Athenian education was far superior
to that of Sparta, producing a better rounded citizen.

Later this older form of education gave way to one of
extreme individualism, under which the happiness of the indi-
vidual was given more consideration than the welfare of the
state. The study of grammar and rhetoric was especially
emphasized because of the eagerness of the men to enter polit-
ical life, and training in the gymnazia was neglected. With
this change there appeared a class of teachers known as
sophists; many of them were skilled teachers, but others were
noted for their ability to argue and for their willingness to
take any position. The three world renowned Greek philos-
ophers, Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle, lived during this period ;
they attempted to harmonize the old and the new educational
institutions and to build systems of education and thot for
future generations. They had little effect on the immediate
times, altho they have influenced all succeeding generations;
their point of view even dominated the thot of Europe for
centuries. After them there arose schools of rhetoric and
philosophy, out of which grew the universities, such as the
University of Athens, which flourished from the fourth cen-
tury B. C. Other universities followed, the most noted of
which were those of Pergamon, Rhodes, Alexandria, and
Rome; but Athens remained the intellectual center of the
world until about A. D. 300, when it was displaced by Alex-
andria. During this time students flocked to Athens from
all parts of the Roman Empire. The later intellectual
supremacy of Alexandria resulted from the development of
the Ptolemaic system of astronomy and from the reputation
of such investigators as Euclid in geometry, Archimedes in
physics, Eratosthenes in astronomy, and Diaphontus in alge-
bra. In addition to the university centers many different

EDUCATION 267

schools of philosophers sprang up in various parts of the
Hellenic world.

Greek thot and civilization extended over the Orient and
carried its sway into every part of the Roman world. In fact
Greek thot did not merely conquer Rome; it has had its influ-
ence upon every age from that time down to the present.
The contribution of Greece to the world was that of civili-
zation.

Roman Education. — During the early days of Rome
education was largely a family affair and, with the exception
of a few elementary schools, there were no schools. Children
were taught by their parents, but because of the intense patri-
otism and active military policy of the Roman people the
object of all teaching was service to the state. The boys
were trained by their fathers and the girls by the mothers,
altho in early childhood the mothers instructed both. Both
were given physical and moral training, and the ideals were
rigorous and the discipline severe. As the boy grew older,
he accompanied his father and thus learned efficiency in life
by the force of example. If the boy belonged to the patri-
cian class, he might be trained for a profession, such as that
of a soldier, lawyer, or statesman. If he was of the plebeian
class, he usually learned the trade or occupation of his father.
A girl, no matter to which class she belonged, was instructed
in the domestic arts, especially in spinning and weaving wool.
Thru their parents the children were generally taught to read
and write and to commit to memory legends, ballads, and
martial and religious songs, and were made familiar with the
Twelve Tables, or national laws. Thus the education during
this period was essentially practical and was intended to pro-
duce efficient parents, citizens, and soldiers — an aim which
it accomplished. It trained the youth to be strong in mind
and body, simple in his life, and reverential to the gods,
to parents, and to law and tradition. It produced a nation
of fighters, but did not produce idealists or philosophers;
consequently ideals were narrow, selfish, and low. It served
while Rome was small, but when Rome became a world power,
this form of training had to be supplemented.

Hellinization of Roman Education. — In 168 B. C. Rome
conquered Macedon, which under the leadership of Philip
and Alexander had previ9usly absorbed Greece. Instead of
imposing Roman education upon Greece, Rome adopted Greek
culture and civilization; part of this civilization which was

268 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

transplanted to Rome was the Greek system of education.
It was not adopted altogether in the Greek form, but as it
worked out in practice, Greek education was added to the
Roman, and the result was an amalgamation of both; there
was evolved a system of schools, consisting of three grades:
(1) the ludus, or elementary school; (2) the "grammar"
school; and (3) the "rhetorical" school.

The Ludus, or lowest school, in all probability existed before
the conquest of Greece, as an extension of home training,
but it was not fully developed until after the introduction of
Greek methods. Thru imitation and memory, in much the
same manner as formerly was used in the home, were taught
reading, writing and the rudiments of calculation. Little if
any effort was made to give the meaning or reason, and of
course the work was irksome and devoid of interest. Disci-
pline was severe and enforced by use of the lash, rod, and
whip, and the teachers as a rule were feared and hated. The
Greek custom of having a slave accompany the child to school
was adopted by the Romans.

The Grammar School was a result of the increasing demand
for education. Here were studied especially grammar and
literature, including a study of the poets and prose writers,
with some work in arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, geography,
and music. Gymnastic exercises were also frequently added.
There was little improvement, however, in methods of disci-
pline, altho the schools were better equipped in the way of
desks and decorations, as well as separate buildings; the ele-
mentary schools were generally held in porches and in booths.

The Rhetorical Schools were really professional schools, fit-
ting for the occupation of politics and statesmanship. The
training was chiefly in oratory, law, and history. The courses
were broadened out by linguistic and literary education, altho
the main feature was training in declamation and oratory.
After completion of the course at a rhetorical school the
student might supplement his education with work at a
university, the most popular of which being the universities
of Athens, Rhodes, and Alexandria, and later the one at
Rome itself.

At first there wz& no formal educational system, the estab-
lishment of schools being a private matter. But in the time
of the later empire the government began to subsidize the
schools by contributing to their support, paying certain teach-
ers, exempting the students from taxes and military duties,

EDUCATION 269

and offering scholarships. On account of the rapid estab-
lishment of schools caused by the desire of the people to
obtain these privileges rather than to further education, and
on account of his wish to correct other abuses connected
with the schools the emperor, by decreeing that he alone
had the authority to establish schools, assumed control over
them and brot them into the hands of the government; in
this way he laid the basis for a system of public education,
the first known to history. While in the later days of the
empire the schools, deteriorated in character and purpose and
lost their real functions, Roman education left its impress
upon the world. It was essentially practical and helped mold
the institutions that have advanced civilization. It adopted
as a basis Greek education and added practical features and
thus prepared the world for further progress. It paved the
way for the new educational system which was brot in by
the Christian Church and which largely replaced the Roman
school. The chief defect in Roman education was perhaps
that it, like the Greek, was limited to the upper classes, and
therefore was not democratic.

Early Christian Education. — When • Rome, becoming
depraved and corrupt, began to decline, Christianity appeared
and after its introduction into Italy spread rapidly in spite
of all attempts to prevent it. At first the new religion was
accepted largely by the lower classes, such as the slaves and
the poor. The majority of these classes of people were unedu-
cated and unintelligent. The new religion, however, supplied
them with moral training of a high order. Because of perse-
cution and ostracism the early Christians were compelled to
segregate more or less. There was within these groups of
Christians a demand for instruction in the new religion, and
it was deemed necessary to give some such instruction before
admitting into church membership. This led to the establish-
ment of what were called "catechumenal" schools, which were
held generally in some part of the church building, such as
the portico. The instruction was chiefly religious, including
the reading and memorizing of scripture and the singing of
hymns. The course of instruction usually lasted for a period
of three years.

The early Christians were suspicious of the Greek and
Roman philosophy and education. It was only natural that
they should not overlook entirely the immorality of the
Romans or forget the terrible persecutions the Romans imposed

270 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

«>n them. But gradually there developed a reconciliation
between the two, resulting in certain catechetical schools, in
which there was some sort of alliance between Graeco-Roman
and Christian thought in education. The best known of
these schools was probably the one at Alexandria, which was
headed by Clement (150-215) and Origen (185-253), who
were extremely advanced in their theology, so much so that
they were branded as being heretical. In these schools Chris-
tianity received a philosophical interpretation. Then in order
to train workers and those intending to enter the clergy there
were organized in the different cities what were known as
"episcopal" or "bishop's" schools, later known as "cathedral"
schools, because of their location. They developed into schools
of three types, the "grammar" school, the "song" or music
school, and the "chorister's" school, which was a combina-
tion of both. These spread in popularity and took the place
of the older Roman schools which were subsidised by the
emperors. With these schools there grew up again opposi-
tion to the Greek and Roman culture and ideas of life, and
there was a breaking away from the Greek and Roman philos-
ophy. This led to the rise of the monastic schools, which
had so great an influence during the Middle Ages.

Education During the Middle Ages. — Monastic Edu-
cation.— By the decree of Justiniam in A. D. 529 the pagan
schools were abolished and the field was thus left open to
the cathedral and monastic schools. Along with the corrup-
tion of Roman society monasticism grew up as a result of
the desire on the part of some people for a deeper religious
life and as a reaction to the prevailing vice. Monasteries
were founded, where the monks lived in cells, meeting for
meals, communion, and instruction. This movement began
in Egypt but quickly spread over Syria, Palestine, Greece,
Italy, and Gaul. In the west the attention of the monks
was directed especially to the cultivation of the soil and the
preservation of literature. In accordance with a rule of St.
Benedict most of the monasteries adopted the plan of spend-
ing seven hours a day in manual labor and two hours in
systematic reading. This created a demand for manuscripts,
and each monastery had its "writing room" for the copying
of manuscripts. Most of these manuscripts were of a relig-
ious nature, but some of them were from the classics. This
led to much literary activity and helped to preserve the learn-
ing of the past. It also led to the establishment of monastic

EDUCATION 271

schools with organized courses of study, of eight or ten years
in length. These schools were instituted for the training of
youths for the monastic orders, altho some boys were admitted
who did not intend to become monks; likewise some instruc-
tion was given women in the convents for nuns. At first the
training in these schools was elementary and narrow, but
later included such studies as grammar, rhetoric, and dialec-
tic, which were called the lower studies, and arithmetic, geom-
etry, music, and astronomy, which were known as the higher
studies. Grammar did include, however, some work in lit-
erature; rhetoric some knowledge of law and history; diatectic
led to metaphysics; geometry included geography and sur-
veying; music reached such advanced phases as the theory
of music, and astronomy included some physics and higher
mathematics; so the courses of study were not so narrow
as they would seem at first glance. Text-books were scarce,
and the instructor usually dictated and the pupil took the
dictation down upon tablets and memorized it. As a result
of these schools many text-books were written, some of which
were of very high grade. While the monastic schools were
uncritical, superstitious, and decidedly hostile to the classics
and science, they did the world a great service by preserving
and handing down much Graeco-Roman culture that other-
wise would have been lost.

During the seventh and eighth centuries the schools of Europe
had degenerated and education stood at a low ebb. It was
at this time that Charlemagne, noticing the degeneracy,
induced Alcuin, the head of a famous cathedral school at
York, to cross over to the continent and reorganize educa-
tion in France. He built up, with the patronage of Charle-
magne, the Palace School, where instruction included gram-
mar, rhetoric, dialetic, arithmetic, and theology. He also
improved the cathedral, monastic, and parish schools. Later
Alcuin retired to the monastery at Tours, where he estab-
lished a school, to which the bright youths of the empire
flocked. Many of these later became teachers and church-
men. Altho in his old age Alcuin became ultra-conserva-
tive, his pupils generally were broad-minded, and the effect
of his going to France was a marked revival in education.

Moslem Contributions. — Because of the almost absolute
illiteracy of Mohammed the Koran, or Moslem Bible, was
a strange jumble of religious ideas gathered together by
Mohammed. When Mohammedanism came into contact with

272 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

Greek philosophy in Syria and Asia Minor, the Koran had
to be interpreted in Hellenistic terms. Works in philosophy,
mathematics, and science were translated into Arabic, and
the Mohammedan cities of Syria became noted for their learn-
ing. This fame did not, however, win the approval of the
mass of Mohammedans; consequently these advanced mem-
bers were driven out of Syria, taking refuge in Northern
\frica and Spain. Here they founded colleges at Cordova,
Granada, Toledo, and elsewhere, which preserved learning,
especially in mathematics, science, law, and metaphysics. They
came into contact with the Christians and created a desire
for Greek learning, which was later able to be better satis-
fied when the Venetians brot the original Greek books to
Western Europe. This transfer of manuscripts preserved
much of the learning of the East, which might otherwise
have been lost.

Medieval Universities. — Partly as a result of Moslem
stimulation and partly on account of the local conditions
there sprang up in Europe towards the close of the Middle
Ages many noted universities. The first of these was at
Salerno, near Naples; it was simply a school of medicine,
being the product of local conditions, such as the existence
there of mineral springs and the preservation at that place
of old Greek medical works. Probably the most noted of
these universities was a Bologna, in Northern Italy; it thru
investigations in Roman law became noted for its teachings
of canon and civil law. It was chartered by Frederick Bar-
barossa in 1158, and was perhaps the first real university,
having faculties in arts, medicine, and theology. The uni-
versity at Paris was the next in order of foundation, and it
became the most famous of them all. The universities of
Bologna and Paris were examples of two different kinds, the
former representing the type known as "student" universi-
ties. In this sort of institution the government was in the
hands of the students, who were often mature men; they
selected the masters and determined the fees, length of term,
and date of beginning. Paris represented the type known
as "master" universities, where the students were younger
and where all management was in the hands of the masters.
At the beginning of the renaissance about eighty universities
had been established upon one or the other of these two
plans. About thirty of them died out and the others changed
a great deal in character.

EDUCATION 273

Generally these universities were granted charters, which
carried special privileges of some kind, such as exemption
from taxes and military service, the right to license masters,
and the privilege of "striking" when rights were infringed
upon. In the last case lectures might be suspended and the
university moved to another town a transfer which was not
very difficult because of lack of laboratories, libraries and
other equipment. Wandering students, a shiftless, reckless,
and vicious lot, begging their way from one place to another
and migrating from university to university, were also a fea-
ture of the time.

These universities in time began to be organized, the students
according to the countries or sections of Europe from which
they came, and the masters into faculties. Each group of
students had its counselor, who represented it and looked after
its interests; and each faculty had its dean, who acted as
its representative. The deans and counselors together generally
selected the "rector", or head of the university. The faculties
represented were as a rule arts, law, medicine, and theology.
The courses of study in each of these were decreed either by
papal decree or by legislation on the part of the university. The
course in arts included the subjects taught in the monastic
school, with the addition of the study of Aristotle. In the
law course Corpus Juris Civilis and the Decree of Gratian
were used as texts in civil and canon law respectively. Texts
were also used in the medical and theological courses. The
lecture method was employed extensively, in which the texts
were read and explained by means of notes, summaries, cross-
references, and opinions of the professors. Opportunity was
also given for argument and debate, all exercises being carried
on in Latin, which had to be learned by the student before
entering the university. Examinations were held and degrees
conferred in much the same manner as at the present day.
While the information was meager and the manner of pre-
sentation stereotyped and authoritative and while little was
done in constructive thinking or investigation, the mediaeval
university contained the germ of modern inquiry and freedom,
and thus paved the way for progressive educational ideas.
It advanced the cause of individualism and contributed its
part to civilization and progress.

Other agencies, outside the school systems, made for certain
types of education, such as that given the upper classes thru
the institution of chivalry and the industrial education received

274 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

by members of the merchant or crajt gilds. In the former
case the boys who expected to become knights were required
to pass thru a long period of training, first at home, then at
some castle, where the youth served as a page and was trained
by both the lord and lady, especially the latter; and later
as a squire, when he attended the lord at the tournament
or on the battlefield and went thru a more strenuous train-
ing. Upon being knighted he had to observe certain cere-
monies.

With the rise of commerce and industry in the later Middle
Ages there developed merchant cities and a burgher class.
Workmen organized themselves into gilds, which exercised
rigid supervision of the industry and among other things
regulated carefully the learning of the trade, in order to main-
tain quality of product and to guarantee prosperity for the
workman. There were three stages, (1) apprentice, (2) jour-
neyman, and (3) master. The apprentice received no wages
but was under the protection of the gild while he received
instruction. A journeyman received wages, but only by work-
ing for a master; he was obliged to pass an examination set
by the gild before he was allowed to become a master. Thus
industrial education was thoroly given. Gilds also usually
maintained priests that they might instruct the children a
part of the time; later priests were regularly employed to
teach school, and in this way gild schools sprang up. These
were afterward absorbed by burgher or town schools, in
which practical education was given in reading, writing, and
reckoning. They were controlled by the public authorities
and represented the interests of the commercial and industrial
classes. They not only contributed to the development of
commerce and industry, but they educated the masses and
were a large factor in preparing the way for the Renaissance.

The Renaissance and Reformation. — Classical Edu-
cation. — The intellectual awakening, known as the Renais-
sance, which occurred during the fourteenth century, brot
into Europe a tremendous revival of learning. It took the
form of study of the classics, and an enthusiasm or craze
for this form of study spread over Europe with an eager-
ness, that knew no bounds. At first it was limited to a
revival of the Latin classics and naturally started in Italy,
the home of the Latin classics. The most noted of the
early students of the classics were Petrarch and his pupil
Boccaccio; thru their efforts and influence many Latin manu-

EDUCATION 275

scripts were recovered, preserved, and copied, and a wide
knowledge of Latin was handed down for future study. Not
much was done with the study of Greek till Chrysolas arrived
in Italy as an envoy of the Eastern emperor and was induced
to settle there in 1396 in order to teach Greek. With his
help translations were made and a Greek grammar written.
From that time the study of both Latin and Greek became
the rage.

The tyrants of many of the Italian cities, including Flor-
ence, Venice, Padua, Verona, Ferrara, and Mantua, estab-
lished schools in order to foster study of the classics; they
did this as a means of catering to public sentiment, thus
making their own positions more secure. The most famous
of these was the school headed by Vittorino da Feltre, which
aimed at a harmonious development of mind, body, and morals.
A grammatical and literary study of both the Latin and
Greek writers was given, providing the student with a grasp
of vocabulary, rhythm, and style. Mathematical subjects
were also taught and physical and moral instruction given.
This school turned out a number of distinguished statesmen,
churchmen, scholars, and rulers. The schools of this type
received the children of the nobility and aristocracy at an
early age and retained them until they were twenty-one; in
this way they became rivals of the universities, because they
carried the students generally as far and sometimes farther
than did the universities. Because of this competition the
universities were compelled to add the classics to their cur-
riculums. In Italy the study of the classics gradually degen-
erated into an aping of the style and forms of Cicero and
became known as "Ciceronianism".

The study of the classics spread from Italy northward into
1 France and Germany, where it took on a broader system of
culture. It was especially stimulated in France by the enthu-
siasm resulting from expeditions of several of the French
kings into Italy, and later under the patronage of Francis I
it was introduced into most of the educational institutions
of France and produced many famous scholars. In Germany
the Hieronymians, or Bretheren of the Common Lot, were
the first to introduce the study into their schools. Here
Erasmus, who became the leader of the classical education
in the north, was trained. Under his influence many text-
books and educational treatises were prepared and much inspi-
ration was given. Classical training was introduced into many

276 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

schools, and from the old cathedral and upper burgher schools
there evolved the German "gymnazium", the typical classical
school of that country. One of the first of these was estab-
lished by Sturm at Strassburg, where a course of ten classes
was provided, in which a careful study of the classics was
carried out. The movement spread to England and was
taken up at Oxford and Cambridge. The real development
at Cambridge began when Erasmus, professor of theology,
consented to lecture on Greek as a labor of love. A model
for all secondary schools was founded in 1509 at St. Paul's
by Colet. The study of the classics in England, however,
degenerated into formalism, and the secondary schools have
improved but little to the present day. The secondary schools
of the American colonies were modeled upon those of the
mother country.

Educational Influence of the Reformation. — The Refor-
mation gave the world not only a religious awakening, but
an educational inspiration as well. Luther stood primarily
for religious reform, but he advocated that education should
prepare for citizenship and should be state supported. Zwin-
gli held similar views, but was killed before he was able to
exercise much influence; Calvin not only founded by his own
effort several colleges but exercised an influence in the found-
ing of others and determining the educational thot of Switzer-
land, France, the Netherlands, England and Scotland.

Catholic education also received a new impetus. The
Jesuits organized colleges to extend Catholic Christianity;
these taught the classics, theology, and philosophy. The
teachers were carefully trained and selected, and while the
methods used consisted largely of memorizing and reviewing,
with devices to stir up rivalry, they were effective. These
colleges increased almost phenomenally, till in 1556 there
were 769 such institutions scattered thruout the world, with
an attendance of at least 200,000 students. Because of quar-
rels with the church the Jesuit order, the society of Jesus,
was dissolved by the pope. While it was later restored, the
educational influence never again became so great.

Other Catholic bodies founded schools and exerted new edu-
cational influences; such were the Jansenists, generally known
as Port Royalists, because of the educational methods used
in the convent school at Port Royal. They held that reason
was more important than memory, and established small
schools, known as "little schools", where individual instruc-

EDUCATION 277

tion was emphasized, where stress was placed upon the ver-
nacular, logic, and geometry. The phonetic method of instruc-
tion was here employed. The Christian Brothers empha-
sized practical studies in addition to the study of academic
subjects and religion. They introduced the "simultaneous"
or group method of instruction, using it instead of individual
instruction, which had prevailed in the past. They also
established training courses for teachers for the elementary
schools.

One of the influences of the Reformation was the creation
of an inclination towards universal elementary education and
control of the schools by the state. While some Catholics
in Germany, Holland, Scotland, and some of the American
colonies took this position, the movement was much stronger
among Protestants in those countries. With the Protestants
the secondary schools came largely under the management
of civil authorities, altho the clergy generally taught and
inspected them. With the Catholics secondary education was
mainly in the hands of the Jesuits. During this time many
colleges changed from the Catholic to the Protestant faith,
and many new colleges, both Catholic and Protestant, were
founded.

Modern Times. — During the seventeenth century scien-
tific education developed rapidly. It had been stimulated by
the labors of Capernicus, Kepler, and Galileo in the field of
astronomy and by the discoveries of Torricelli, Boyle, and
Guericke. Newton, with his laws of motion; Harvey, with
the discovery of the circulation of the blood; and other scien-
tists, with their contributions, simply added to this impetus.
The scientific movement was opposed at first by the churches
and consequently was not taken up by the colleges and uni-
versities for some time. But slowly and indirectly it crept
into the elementary schools and in time was incorporated
in the courses of study of the colleges and universities thruout
the world. German universities were the first to do so, espe-
cially those of Halle and Gottingen. The English universi-
ties of Oxford and Cambridge were much slower to accept
science as an object of study. During the early part of the
eighteenth century Yale, Princton, Kings (afterwards Colum-
bia), Dartmouth, Union, and Pennsylvania offered work in
science, and Harvard did so even before the close of the sev-
enteenth century.

Growth of Democracy in Education. Its Extension to the

278 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

Lower Classes. — During the early part of the eighteenth
century there was a revolt against the principle of repression
in theology and education much like the revolt during the
latter part of the same century against political repression.
There was a struggle to free the intellect from form and
dogma and to interpret life from a more reasonable and nat-
ural point of view. One of the great thinkers of those times
was Voltaire who championed reason against tradition. While
he particularly assailed the church, both Protestant and Roman
Catholic — especially the latter — because he considered it
an enemy to liberty and progress, he aided education, not
only by his criticism of the old systems, but by his introduc-
tion into France of the new theories of education with which
he had become acquainted while an exile in England.

In the eighteenth century there were also many attempts
at more universal education, especially in England, where
the condition of the laboring class, which made up about
one-sixth of the population, was wretched, wages being low,
work irregular, and dire poverty general. Many charity
schools were established and philanthropic societies formed
to extend this work; such was the Society for the Promo-
tion of Christian Knowledge and the Society for the Propa-
gation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, the latter of which
supported schools in all the American colonies except Vir-
ginia. These societies were organized and managed by phil-
anthropic individuals. They met much opposition on the
part of the upper classes, on the ground that the business
of the working classes was to labor and not to think; and
on the part of the lower classes, because they resented charity.
This movement flourished for a while and as mentioned
above, was even extended to America, where a number of
such societies were organized and schools founded; but in
time interest waned, subscriptions fell off, and the movement
declined.

Monitor Schools. — Another movement which did much for
the extension of education to the masses because of its method,
was the system of instruction thru monitors, a system devel-
oped in England by two rivals, Lancaster and Bell. With
the use of older students as monitors a much larger number
could be instructed at a time than under the previous, more
individual methods. This was carried out by company organ-
ization and drill, a system of officers, badges, rewards and
punishments being provided. While formal and mechanical,

EDUCATION 279

it added much to the idea of national education and paved
the way for state support; it also greatly improved methods
of teaching. It spread widely and was adopted to a con-
siderable extent in the United States, but disappeared with
the improvement in educational sentiment. It contributed,
however, its part to the advance of education.

Infant Schools for poor children were introduced during
the early part of the nineteenth century in France, England,
and the United States. While founded largely from philan-
thropic motives, they spread widely and were adopted as a
regular part of the national school systems. They soon
became formal and mechanical, but had a beneficial effect
by introducing better methods and equipment. They encour-
aged a movement towards play-grounds, and in the United
States brot women into the schools as teachers.

While much opposed, the philanthropic movement in edu-
cation was of value in that it prepared the way for national
and public education.

Educational Reforms. — 1. Naturalistic Tendency.—
The chief instigator of this movement was Rousseau (1712-
1798). While better known to the student of sociology
and political science thru his Social Contract, he by means
of his Entile had a tremendous influence upon education. In
this work he takes up in five books the training of the youth.
In the first book he takes the child from birth to five years
of age, during which time the training should consist of phys-
ical activities; in the second, from five to twelve, or during
childhood, when the training should develop the limbs and
senses; in the third, from twelve to fifteen years, or during
boyhood, when the training should be intellectual and should
include a study of the natural sciences, by means of stimu-
lating the curiosity concerning nature; in the fourth, from
fifteen to twenty, the time for social and moral development,
for during this period the sex interests appear and should be
properly guided and trained. The fifth book takes up the
training of the girl. Emile is supposed to marry; she is made
to be extremely parasitic. In this work Rousseau, while
inconsistent at times, is brilliant and suggestive; it entitles
him to rank as an originator of the social, scientific, and psy-
chological movements in education. He did not, however,
make any immediate impression upon educators; in fact it
fell to Basedow first to put the naturalism of Rousseau into
practice. He took the stand that education should be prac-

280 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

tical and should follow the methods of play. He established,
thru the aid of subsidies, a model school, known as the "phi-
lanthropinum", and produced several textbooks for this
method. Languages were taught thru conversation, and
games and other sciences by equally natural methods. Indus-
trial training was also included. The school was very suc-
cessful and was copied to such an extent that this type of
school became a fad. Nevertheless it did much good by
giving a new stimulus to education.

2. Observation and Industrial Training — Pestalozzi
(1746-1827). — The further development and practical appli-
cation of the naturalism theory of Rousseau was left to Pesta-
iozzi to carry out. Early in life he was inspired with the
uesire to elevate the degraded peasantry of Europe. After
meeting failure in the ministry and law he turned his atten-
tion to education, where in a school at Xeuhof he undertook
a combination of industrial and educational training, but
failed in the undertaking. In 1798 he was given another
opportunity to carry out his philanthropic and industrial
ideas in education. Having no assistants, books or materials,
he was obliged to instruct thru observation, a method which
he used in morals, arithmetic, languages, geography, and his-
tory. In another school at Burgdorf Pestalozzi was obliged
to discontinue industrial training, but here and later at Yver-
don he developed his observational method to its culmina-
tion. He looked upon education as a natural development
of innate powers. He believed that clear ideas could be
formed only thru the aid of the senses, and he tried to reduce
each subject to its simplest elements and to develop it by
means of graded exercises. He insisted that education follow
the psychological steps of a child's development. He sought
to elevate society by means of education, and while his
methods were unoriginal, impractical, inconsistent, and lack-
ing in science and organization, he was the real progenitor
of modern pedagogy. Not only did he usher in new methods
of instruction, but he started a new type of discipline, sub-
stituting friendliness and love for the brutal methods then
in vogue. Because of this, his methods spread rapidly over
Europe and the United States, being much extended by his
followers. The industrial and intellectual combination, which
Pestalozzi was obliged to discard because of the social posi-
tion of his pupils, was taken up by his friend Fellenberg
(1771-1844) at Hofwyl. ' It was continued in industrial train-

EDUCATION 281

ing schools in Europe and in the "manual labor" movement
in the United States, where it has been particularly developed
in the Indian and Negro schools, such as Carlisle, Hampton,
and Tuskegee, and also in schools for defectives and delin-
quents. The idea likewise underlies the manual training
departments of our public schools and the special trade
schools.

(3). Herbart (1776-1841) and Froebel (1782-1852). Two
followers of Pestalozzi, who extended and carried on to a
higher development the work of their master, were Herbart
and Froebel. Each of these worked out systems of pedagogy,
Herbart basing his upon his own ingenious psychology, and
Froebel his upon a kind of mystic philosophy. Both repro-
duced theories of Pestalozzi in a more logical manner. Her-
bart and his followers laid stress particularly upon the moral
aim of education and the control of conduct thru ideas. They
elaborated a theory of subject matter which was based upon
epochs of cultural development; they set up an organization
of the curriculum founded on correlation of studies and upon
the unity of knowledge and experience. Herbart believed that
the mind develops thru its own experiences, that in this man-
ner education can control the growth of intelligence and char-
acter, and that instruction should stimulate thru ideas and
experiences.

Froebel laid emphasis upon self-activity as the basis and
method of instruction; upon natural interests as the starting
point of all education; and upon play, constructive work,
and the study of nature as the chief means of teaching. He
held that self-realization, or individualization, can only be
achieved thru the development of the social instincts. In
addition he developed the kindergarten, or school without
books or tasks, and thus was the originator of the kinder-
garten movement, which has spread over Europe and America.

Nearly all the modern tendencies in education can be traced
back in some rudimentary form to Herbart or Froebel; in
fact present educational theory is largely a synthesis of Her-
bartian and Froebelian ideas, the latter being probably more
in accord with modern thought.

American Educational Development. — Colonial Edu-
cation.— Naturally the schools of the early colonies closely
resembled those of the countries from which the colonists
migrated; just as naturally they were influenced by the pre-
vailing religious and political ideas. The colonies which were

282 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

under democratic control and in which the Calvinistic atti-
tude prevailed made attempts at a sort of universal educa-
tion, and those which were under aristocratic control and were
made up of followers of the church of England did not favor
universal education. The Calvinists favored universal edu-
cation because they believed that the people should be able
to read the scriptures in order that they might be guided
by the word of God. The aristocratic type spent more time
and means upon establishing higher education than they did
upon universal education. After many efforts this influence
caused the founding of William and Mary College in 1692,
and little was done for the education of the poorer classes
in Virginia and the South until many years later.

Three types of school organization developed in the colonies:
( 1 ) the laissez jaire method as followed in Virginia and most
of the Southern colonies, where secondary and higher educa-
tion for the upper classes was fostered, with little education,
except industrial training thru apprenticeship for the orphans
and children of the poor. Here education was looked upon
largely as a private or family matter; (2) the parochial type
as found in New Netherlands and in most of the middle col-
onies; (3) the governmental school system as found in Massa-
chusetts and most of the New England colonies.

Period of Transition. — About the middle of the eighteenth
century there began a gradual modification of educational
ideals and practices in regard to American education which
extended until after the first quarter of the nineteenth cen-
tury, when our regular public school systems had become
more or less definitely worked out. In most of the Southern
states, especially in Virginia, there had to develop a senti-
ment in favor of public education. Jefferson in his' time
worked out an elaborate scheme of public education, by
which the country was divided into small districts, each
having its public elementary school and selecting from these
schools the best students to go to more advanced schools,
where in turn the selective process was to continue, till the
best were finally educated at public expense at William and
Mary College. This scheme was never carried out, but slowly
permanent school funds were established and laws passed
thruout the Southern states establishing public schools. At
first these met with much ppposition, both from the wealthy,
who did not see why they should be taxed to support schools
which would bring them no good, and from the poor, who

EDUCATION 283

resented this apparent charity. Then for a long time it
was difficult to secure competent teachers, because graduates
of colleges and academies refused to teach in the schools
for the poor. But by degrees these objections were overcome
and the schools increased in number and usefulness.

About 1800 New York began to make appropriations for
public elementary schools, altho it still neglected secondary
schools. In New York City quasi-public societies, such as
the "Free School Society", later called the "Public School
Society" were forerurhiers of a system of public instruction.
The new constitution adopted in Pennsylvania in 1790 made
provision for the establishment of schools for the poor, but
the usual method followed was to pay the tuition of poor
children in private schools, till in 1818 Philadelphia estab-
lished school districts and provided schools upon the Lan-
casterian plan. These were extended in other places, but it
was not until 1834 that a state system of common schools
was started, and even then it was done over much opposition.
New Jersey and Delaware were even slower to follow in this
movement.

*In Massachusetts provisions for public schools had been
very generous and hearty, but instead of increasing as time
went on, support of education degenerated. This was caused
partly by the hard struggle for a living and partly by the
westward migration of the more enterprising. Then the con-
trol of schools was changed from the town to the school dis-
trict; many districts were either too poor or too indifferent
to supply efficient teachers and equipment, and there resulted
a great deal of inequality of schools. This decline became
general in New England except in Rhode Island, which for
the first time began to develop free public schools. In the
states formed from the old Northwest Territory (now the
North Central states) the sentiment for free public schools
was stronger than in most of the older states, but many diffi-
culties were in the way, such as the poverty, the sparsely
settled country, poor roads, and incessant Indian wars, gen-
eral land grants, however, acted as a stimulus, and systems
of public instruction came into existence about 1825. These
not only included, as a rule, free public instruction by means
of elementary schools, but extended to the establishment
of state universities, the most noted of which was the Uni-
sity of Michigan, which was established by the legislature
in 1837 and opened in 1841.

284 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

Public Education. — With the beginning of the second quar-
ter of the nineteenth century the democratic idea in educa-
tion spread very rapidly. The older arguments against public
education and the opposition to it were broken down. The
unwillingness of the wealthy to be taxed to educate other
people's children and the regard qf free public schools as
pauper schools gave way. What is known as the "common
:>ciiool revival" took place in New England and spread over
the rest of the country. This movement for public educa-
tion was aided greatly by the strenuous efforts of such able
educators as James G. Carter (1795-1849), a practical edu-
cator, who advocated normal schools and secured by means
of a legislative act in Massachusetts in 1826 town school com-
mittees and support for high schools; the law required each
town of five hundred families to support a free high school,
and later an act passed in 1837 secured a State Board of
Education. Horace Mann (1796-1859) followed Carter and
advocated free and universal education (for girls as well as
boys), better equipped, more sanitary, and better lighted
buildings, more scientific methods, trained teachers, and prac-
tical studies; he also insisted that character should be the
chief aim of education. Henry Barnard (1811-1900) did
much to advertise before the public new methods in educa-
tion, especially thru the American Journal of Education, which
he began to publish at his own expense.

This awakening and growing of public sentiment was fol-
lowed by a steady increase in universal education, state sup-
port and control, supervision by local authorities, and the
organization of normal schools throut New England and the
Middle states. In the Western states those settlers who came
from states where public education was not fostered were
convinced of the value of it by those who came from states
which were in favor of public instruction; and as the West
was settled up, progress in educational development kept
pace with the expansion of the country. Advancement was
also made in the Southern states, but this was greatly hin-
dered by the Civil War, when all education was paralyzed
for a time.

European Educational Systems. — During the past one
hundred and fifty years there have been developed in many
of the European countries centralized state systems, which
differ in many ways from the educational systems of the
United States; the most important are perhaps those of Prus-

EDUCATION 285

sia, France, and England. In all these countries elementary
education is now free, but only in a few cases is secondary
education gratuitous, and only in France is education entirely
secularized.

Prussia. — - The early development of a system of universal
education in Prussia was due largely to the strong line of
Hohenzollern monarchs, who, while despotic and arbitrary,
were advanced in thinking and had the real interests of the
people at heart. This policy was begun as early as 1717
by Frederick William I, who decreed that wherever schools
existed children were required to attend in winter, and in
summer whenever their parents could spare their services.
This policy was further extended by Frederick the Great and
succeeding monarchs and was given still greater .impetus
by the conquest of Prussia by Napoleon, when it was realized
that a centralized system was necessary.

The Prussian system is somewhat complicated and to Ameri-
can minds perhaps unjust. At the foot of the ladder are
the Volksschulen, or people's schools, which are free and open
to all. These carry the child from six to fourteen years,
but do not lead to higher schools; in fact the graduates of
these schools are not admitted to the gymnasium, and after
the third year transfer is practically impossible; thus at the
age of nine the fate of the child as far as education is con-
cerned is determined, altho continuation schools are generally
open to them. The Volksschulen naturally are attended mostly
by the lower classes. Then there are Mittelschulen, or middle
schools; they are for the middle classes, who cannot send
their children to the secondary schools, but who demand
better educational facilities than those afforded the common
people. The real Prussian educational system, however, con-
sists of the system of secondary schools. Three types of these
have developed, the Gymnasien, which place their emphasis
upon the classics; the Realschulen, which are characterized
by larger amounts of modern languages, mathematics, and
the natural sciences; and the Realgymnasien, a compromise
between the two, resulting from discrimination against the
Realschulen, which were looked upon as inferior. The fact
that most of these had only six year courses as compared
with nine year courses of the Gymnasien led to the introduc-
tion of Oberrealschulen, with nine year courses. In rural
districts, however, six year courses are often found. Tuition
is usually charged for secondary education. Of recent years

286 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

there has come in the Rejormschulen, which postpones for at
least three years the choice of schools and leads to all three
types of secondary schools. On top of the system of secondary
schools are the universities and "technical high schools", the
latter of which specialize in practical and technological aspects
or science.

France. — The French system was developed later than
the Prussian because of the corruptness of the Bourbon mon-
archs and because of the social conditions, under which the
lower classes were held down. But under Napoleon a highly
centralized system was developed in which secondary and
higher education were united into one corporation, known
as "the University of France" (1808). Under Louis Phil-
lippe the elementary schools were organized and under the
third republic elementary education was made free, compul-
sory, and secular. The secondary system consists of lycees
and communal colleges, which are considered inferior to the
lycees. These generally take the children at ten and keep
them "till seventeen, when the bachelor's degree is conferred.
At first they were only for boys but now there are secondary
schools for girls, altho the course is ordinarily two years
shorter. They are not free, but as they are heavily subsi-
dized by the state, the tuition is small. This system was
really begun by Napoleon, who established universities, one-
half of which were later suppressed, tho a few were afterwards
reopened. Now there are universities in fifteen of the sixteen
educational divisions of France.

England. — Progress was still slower towards universal edu-
cation in England, because there was neither a despotic gov-
ernment to establish such a system nor a popular revolution
to sweep away all opposition; and as a result national educa-
tion was a slow evolution, and it was not until the close of
the eighteenth century that the sentiment for universal educa-
tion appeared. Then the upper classes strove to keep educa-
tion away from the lower classes; control of the means of
education was in the hands of the church. But gradually
education was extended to the masses, but it was not until
1870 that schools in charge of school boards chosen by the
people, (known as "board schools") were established, to fill
in vacancies in the previous systems. Denominational or
"voluntary" schools shared with these in receiving govern-
ment grants, but they did not receive local "rates". Towards
the end of the nineteenth century compulsory attendance till

EDUCATION 287

the age of twelve and free tuition were established, and in
1899 a Central Board of Education was set up. But sec-
ondary education was not unified until 1902, when both
systems were joined and supported at public expense. Also
during the nineteenth century the monopoly held by the
classics and the control by ecclesiastical authorities were
broken, and more attention was given to modern languages
and to the natural sciences. Above the secondary systems
are Oxford and Cambridge and the various provincial univer-
sities.

Scientific Tendency in Education. — During the past
two centuries there has been an increase in the stress placed
upon the natural sciences; this has been of particular impor-
tance since the middle of the nineteenth century. This move-
ment was greatly helped by the development of the theory
of evolution, scientific discoveries, and the practical applica-
tion of the result of science. The theory was advanced by
such practical educators as Darwin, Huxley, Spencer, and
Elliot that such training would not only be of vastly greater
use to the average person than the older training in the
classics, but would furnish as good mental discipline as well.
This movement of course met with much opposition on the
part of the followers of the classics, but has continually
gained headway, science has gradually been included not
only in the curriculum of the schools of higher education,
but even in the secondary and elementary schools of Ger-
many, France, England, and the United States.

In recent years there has been in the colleges and univer-
sities an equally strong tendency in the direction of the social
sciences and this movement bids fair in the course of time
to extend in like manner to the secondary schools.

Present Tendencies. — While in the past we have made
great strides in educational progress, we are- not content
to stop but are progressing faster now than at almost any
time in the past. Because of the recent great industrial
growth we have incorporated industrial, commercial, and agri-
cultural training into the school systems of both Europe and
the United States. In Germany and France industrial train-
ing is carried on in continuation schools, where both theory
and practice are taught. In the United States training of
this sort began with evening schools and was later carried
on in day schools, both public and private; it has now entered
as an important part of our secondary school system and

288 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES Of SOCIOLOGY

is taught in many high schools and colleges along with the
regular courses. It is also carried on in schools especially
designed for this work. Germany has taught commercial sub-
jects in private continuation schools and in secondary and
university courses. Until recently the study of commerce
was much neglected in both France and England, but of
recent years England is remedying this defect. In America
this study has been carried on chiefly by "business colleges"
and in courses in secondary schools and colleges. Advanced
work in business training is new being done by our leading
colleges and universities in departments of business adminis-
tration. In agricultural training Germany and France have
done much in an introductory way in their elementary schools,
as has likewise been done to some extent in the United States.
The United States probably leads all countries in the estab-
lishment and perfection of special agricultural schools. Land
grant acts by Congress did much for the establishment of
agricultural colleges in all our states. Now, however, agri-
cultural work is being much extended to our high schools,
and the latest development of this movement is in the way
of special agricultural high schools. During the last few
years Europe has paid a great deal of attention to moral
training, and this subject is attracting considerable atten-
tion in the United States, largely because of the greatly increas-
ing impersonal relationships in our business life.

While the evolution of education has been largely the devel-
opment of the spirit of individualization, most recent tenden-
cies have been in the direction of shaping the educational
systems so as to make them more useful to society, and at
the same time not to injure the growth of individualism. In
this way education is striving to be more and more useful
for both the individual and society; it aims not only to train
the individual to fit better into the social fabric, but also
to enable society to do more for the individual. Schools
have been developed for the training of defectives — not only
those who are mentally deficient or less alert. Schools for the
blind, the deaf, the dull, the truant and the precocious, and
even for those possessing such peculiarities as stammerijig and
for those afflicted with tuberculosis are along the lines of
modern improvement. Instead of forcing those who are handi-
capped into the regular school mill we now establish special
schools for these classes. More and more attention is now
being paid to school hygiene and care for the health of the

EDUCATION 289

pupils, to improvement of school architecture for the sake
of making the school more attractive, and to making teach-
ers more efficient by giving greater recognition to the profes-
sion. Many experiments have recently been carried on by
such men as Dewey in his experimental school at the Uni-
versity of Chicago during the 90's and by such schemes as
the now famous Gary school plan, by which more effective
use of the school plant is obtained and the school made more
attractive and useful by means of rotation and variation of
school activities. Surveys and experiments are constantly
being made, and our whole educational system is being over-
hauled and reorganized that it may become more efficient
and useful to society. One result of the Great War will
undoubtedly be a radical change in our educational systems
and ideals, especially along the lines of standardization and
efficiency, the elimination of waste, and the construction of
useful courses of study. This first took the form of greater
encouragement of scientific studies, and now is placing greater
stress on courses of study leading to social efficiency.

GRAVES, F. P., A Student's History of Education.

MONROE, PAUL, A Brief Course in the History of Education.

HORNE, H. H., The Philosophy of Education.

GRAVES, F. P., A History of Education in Modern Times.

GRAVES, F. P., History of Education During the Middle Ages and the

Transition to Modern Times.

GRAVES, F. P., A History of Education Before the Middle Ages.
MONROE, PAUL, Source Book of the History of Education, for the Greek

and Roman Period.
KIRKPATRICK, E. A., Fundamentals of Education, Chaps. XI, XII, XIII,

and XIV.

THOMAS, W. I., Source Book or Social Origins, Part II.
WEEKS, ARLAND D., The Education of Tomorrow.

(I/

PART FOUR
ANALYSIS OF SOCIETY

291

CHAPTER XV
INSTINCTS, FEELING, AND INTELLECT

In order to get an idea of how society is made up we must
study the forces that control society and the interests
that prompt man to act; but before we do even this, it is
necessary to consider what kind of a being man is to begin
with. It is with this phase that the present chapter deals.
While man began as an animal among animals, he was a
superior one, being endowed with mental and physical facul-
ties not enjoyed by other animals, particularly mental capac-
ity. In many ways, especially in strength, speed, and endur-
ance, he was easily excelled by many animals whom he never-
theless conquered because of his superior make-up. But in
some ways he resembled other animals to a great extent.
While in this work we shall make no pretense to a psycho-
logical analysis of man or even a study of his mental machin-
ery we must touch the psychological side of sociology and
try to isolate the impulses that prompt man to' do what he
does and weigh the forces that control his action, especially
those forces that are within him; the environmental forces
we have already considered. While man is controlled largely
by his environment, that is not all, for he inherits charac-
teristics which to a great extent determine his success in
life. This is true not only of the individual but of mankind
in general.

Instincts. — The instincts, or innate impulses or tenden-
cies, are directly or indirectly the prime movers of human
activity, the mainsprings to action. Without them society
would be inert and lifeless. We ordinarily associate instinct
with animals, but when we look into the matter carefully,
we find that man has instincts as do the animals, that in
fact he has many instincts in common with them. Because,
of the complexity of these instinctive impulses it is extremely
difficult to classify them, for it is impossible to separate
entirely any one instinct or set of instincts from other instincts,
for they are bound up even more closely than are the muscles

293

294 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

of the body. Even if we tried to analyze them carefully,
such a treatment would not help us much in sociology, for
we are interested in them rather as motives for action and
as means of social control. Psychologists have studied the
instincts in detail, but sociologists have not treated the subjects
much, Ellwood1 being about the only modern sociologist who
gives anything like a clear cut treatment of the subject.
It is from social psychologists, like McDougall,' that we are
obliged to turn for information along this line. We musi
not look upon instincts as being incapable of modification,
for even animal instincts may be trained. Also instincts must
have stimuli to develop them, and their importance is limited
to a great extent by the character of these stimuli. Then
instincts do not necessarily exclude consciousness and intel-
lect, for both of these are often used to carry out the direc-
tion of the instincts. We must therefore look upon instincts
as innate tendencies to perceive, to pay attention to objects,
to experience emotional excitement of a certain nature upon
perceiving such objects, and to act or experience some impulse
to act upon such perception.

Human instincts are not hard and fast instincts such as
we find among animals, but are more or less generalized tend-
encies to act, thus enabling man to cope with his environ-
ment, furnishing a starting point for mental and social life,
and supplying a basis for habits. Almost every human instinct
has its parallel or counterpart in animal life. In studying
human instincts we shall take up those instincts or groups
of instinctive impulses that center about certain modes of
action. Altho these impulses often conflict and are intri-
cately interwoven, we shall treat them according to this plan.

Food Instinct. — In common with animals man has the
innate instinct to obtain nourishment for himself. This is
seen with the infant, for it does not have to be taught to
nurse, but merely needs to be put into contact with its moth-
er's breast. While subject to instruction and direction, the
same impulse operates thruout life in the effort to obtain
food; in the early history of man it results in the gathering
of roots, fruits, nuts, and shellfish, and later in the instinct
to hunt and fish, which man shares with the animals. This

Ellwood, Charles A.. "Sociology In its Psychological Aspects", Chap. IX. "Intro-
duction to Social Psychology", Chaps. IX-XI.

'McDougall, William, "An Introduction to Social Psychology", also "Mind and
Body".

INSTINCTS, FEELING, AND INTELLECT 295

impulse is sharpened by the pangs of hunger and encouraged
by the physical satisfaction given by the consumption of
food. It is purely an animal instinct, altho with man it is
under greater control and direction by the intellect than with
the animals. With further development it takes the form
of impulse to work, as we know the term, the production
of things which satisfy human wants. Thus it is at the
basis of the food interest of man and to a large extent of
the motives that prompt our economic and industrial activity.
It also leads to storing of food and thus stimulates invention;
on the other hand it produces perversities such as stealing,
begging, and the exploitation of others by means of slavery,
serfdom, low wages, and similar means.

Reproductive Instinct. — This is another impulse that
man has in common with his animal neighbors, the instinct
to continue the race; it is stronger in the male than in the
female. Coupled with this is the whole matter of sex attrac-
tion and sex interest. It is the basis of sexual love, which
led in early days to the formation of the family and the insti-
tution of marriage. Thus it is fundamental to some of the
most important traits of man, such as parental love, which
increases in strength as civilization advances. Family affec-
tion and ties of kinship are also outgrowths of the reproduc-
tive instinct, including the care of aged parents and of weaker
members of the family. From the care of the children devel-
ops sympathy, which is the basis of altruism. While animals,
noticeably the higher animals, have affection for the offspring,
exhibited especially by the mother, it dies out much quicker
than with man and is generally limited in time to the period
ending with the arrival of the next young. The lower we go
in the animal scale the larger we find the number of off-
spring to be, as a rule, and the greater the decrease of this
impulse ; so it is only natural that man, who has fewer offsprings
than almost any animal, should exhibit this impulse in a
stronger manner than the animals. The reproductive instinct
in itself is not as regular and is under greater control with
man than with the animals because of man's superior intel-
lect and powers of control. By means of conscious direc-
tion and control this instinct of man has led to the develop-
ment of man's loftiest impulses and to the moulding of some
of his greatest and most uplifting institutions and achieve-
ments.

296 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

Instinct of Self-Preservation. — The food, reproductive,
and self-preservatory impulses may be called the primary
impulses of man, being common with both man and animals.
This third instinct is an instinct of man to avoid danger, either
to fly Jrom its presence or to keep out of its reach. This has
been necessary for man's very existence, especially in the
infancy of the race, when man was poorly equipped to combat
with the dangers besetting him. The child must also have
it in order to live when outside the protection of its parents.
It causes fear or terror at sight of danger, flight or conceal-
ment from that danger, and later the knack of keeping out
of its way. Man is equipped with nerves which warn him
thru pain of danger to his body, such as danger from cold,
excessive heat, bruising or tearing of the body; and the mind
is equipped with memory to tell him to avoid these dangers
in the future. Man's sense impressions, while in many ways
inferior to those of animals, are guides to him, thus enabling
him to see, hear, smell, or taste approaching danger. The
child exhibits this instinct of fear in the presence of the unfa-
miliar or unusual, often indeed when its intelligence tells
it that there is no real danger. The instinct of fear haunts
man, and while it often saves his life it prevents him at times
from achieving what he otherwise might accomplish; because
of this it is an impulse that man wishes to conceal or over-
come. With the greater protection afforded by society its
use of course diminishes. Another form of the instinct for
self-preservation is the desire to defend oneself against danger
and attack. This instinct has been one of the motive forces
of invention; akin to it is our next class of instincts.

Instinct of Pugnacity and Resentment. — This instinct
is not so universal as that of fear, being in fact quite weak
among females of some species; it is much stronger in some
people than in others, and is generally much more pronounced
among males than females. While the instinct for fighting
is used for defense, it also prompts offense and even oppres-
sion of others. Its use is strengthened by other instincts,
such as that of acquisition; but it is the direct inspiration
to warfare and conquest, for without it these would be very
difficult. By means of it the strongest have survived and
the best elements have been preserved, and races having it
more than others have advanced and progressed, while those
lacking it have been exterminated or overrun. The impulse
of resentment comes into evidence when any attempt is made

INSTINCTS, FEELING, AND INTELLECT 297

upon the rights of a person; the one injured or molested
shows his resentment in the emotion of anger. Without the
spirit of pugnacity or resentment anger would be impossible.
Both of these are closely akin to self-defense and all go hand
in hand. As society progresses, we control the emotions of
anger more and more, priding ourselves upon our control
rather than upon our resentment; but this instinct has been
very useful to man, altho when allowed to run to excess with-
out restraint it has been the cause of endless injustices, mis-
ery, and destruction. When properly curbed, it is a very
useful asset to man; in fact without it one is destined to
serve rather than to lead.

Closely connected and possibly belonging to the same class
of instincts are pugnacity and resentment are those of rivalry
and emulation, which are coming into much greater develop-
ment and use; they work towards achieving much the same
results that anger and fighting produce. The sentiment of
jealousy is related to that of resentment, generally carrying
with it some recognition of weakness or admission that some
one else has or is enjoying something which is desired for
one's self, whether it be the caress given the child, a piece
of candy, or the beautiful wife of another. It is a feeling
of resentment against the success of another person. While
generally condemned and as far as possible held in restraint,
it too, is often a mainspring of action. It is frequently
the motive of injustice and crime.

Instinct of Sociability. — In spite of his tendency to
fight and notwithstanding the influence of his struggles upon
the progress of civilization man has an innate craving for com-
panionship. So strong is it that Professor Giddings has an
extremely complicated and interesting system of sociology
upon this one tendency of man. Not only is one person
attracted to another, but he is attracted especially by the
same kind of person. This impulse was important in the
early history of man for the sake of protection and of making
a living. As we shall find in our next chapter, the sociability
interest is also strong in society today and is the basis of
much of our companionship. Few of us care to be alone
for any length of time; we crave companionship, we want
some one to whom we may communicate our feelings, thots,
and desires. This gregarious impulse is interwoven with many
of our activities. It is one of the factors in the growth of
cities and in the formation of groups. Out of it develops

298 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

loyalty to the group, which results in the spirit of patri-
otism. Love of the praise or approval of others is a phase
of it. Desire to show off or attract attention is simply a
part of this instinct or group of instincts. While not the
most fundamental instinct, it is one of the most important
factors in the life of society.

Instinct of Possession. — Another innate tendency or
impulse of man is to possess objects which are useful to him,
objects that he desires. This probably manifested itself first
in the possession of or claim to a mate. Later it developed
in regard to weapons, tools, and all other forms of wealth
as soon as they were introduced. This is an instinct which
has played a powerful role in the history of mankind, one
which has caused wars, migrations, invasions; it has caused
man to labor and to compel others to labor for him; it has
built up industry; it has in fact entered into every part of
man's existence. It is of course generally coupled with other
impulses, such as the food instinct, and as a social factor
frequently is supplemented by other desires.

Instinct of Construction. — Every child wants to build
or make something. With his blocks he constructs buildings,
roads, towers, and bridges. With dirt he makes mud pies
and with sticks he devises playthings. The Kaffir child of
four will make intricate bird traps. In short, it is an innate
impulse of man to want to make things. It is this instinct
which has underlay invention; the need of something, joined
with the impulse to make, caused the invention to be achieved,
not suddenly, of course, but gradually thru various steps.

Instinct of Imitation. — As soon as man sees something
which he considers good, he immediately starts to imitate
it, whether it be language, a weapon, a method of cooking, a
trick in hunting or fishing, a tool, a strategy in war, an arti-
cle of ornament, a dance, a song, a religious belief, a form
of government, or in fact any achievement or institution what-
ever. The child shows this impulse as soon as it is capable
of appreciating the desirability of things. So strong is this
impulse that Professor Tarde attempted to build a whole
system of sociology upon it, in much the same manner that
Professor Giddings did in regard to the sociability instinct.
While without question a strong impulse, it is by no means
the key to all social activity.

Instincts of Self -Assertion and Self -Abasement. — Both
of these instincts are easily noticed in the animal world, the

INSTINCTS, FEELING, AND INTELLECT 299

male strutting around showing off his plumage or marks of
physical adornment, and the larger, more powerful, and better
formed animal showing off before his mates. The smaller and
weaker one has the opposite impulse and slinks away, trying
to avoid observation, and thus is expressive of self-abasement
or recognition of the superiority of another. The child exhibits
the same impulses. As soon as the baby acquires a new art
or trick, such as walking, or jumping over some little object,
it desires the approbation of others and is displeased if this
is not shown. As it grows older, it shows this trait when it
calls to its playmates to "see it do this or that". Pride is
a strong factor in life; it is the cause of boasting and vanity;
the impulse motivates to a large extent, the wearing of fash-
ionable clothing and ornament, whether it be a silk dress or
a bark loin cloth, a pearl necklace or a brass nose ring. It
is the instinct of pride which causes some people to assume
an air of superiority, whether there is any ground for it or
not. It is the opposite instinct that causes others to exhibit
an attitude of deference to those regarded as their superiors.
The child displays this same tendency, shrinking from a
stranger even when it does not fear the person. In this
impulse we may find the rudiments of shame, which, however,
is not considered an innate tendency, but one which is devel-
oped. These two instincts are ones which man never out-
lives; they are found in all ages, situations, and conditions of
life. While minor factors, they are instincts which have
played their part in man's development. Closely akin to them
ake the instincts of repulsion and disgust, which are aroused
by the sight of a snake or anything that is considered loath-
some. These are the opposites to the impulse of sociability.

Other instincts might be mentioned, such as the instincts
of wonder and curiosity, which cause man to attempt to find
out things and thus lead him to acquire information and
knowledge.

Play. — While hardly an instinct, play must be treated
as a native tendency of the mind which performs an impor-
tant function in the social life of man. Many people have
attempted to explain play by means of some single theory,
but like most phases of social activity it has more than one
origin and explanation. Schiller ascribed play to the expres-
sion of one's surplus energy. While undoubtedly a cause or
explanation of a great deal of play, especially of young chil-
dren, we cannot give this theory the importance placed upon

300 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

it by Herbert Spencer. It is true that a person is most
inclined to play when well nourished and free from exhaus-
tion, but the same person may play until utterly exhausted,
as in a foot game or a tennis match. Others try to show that
in his play the child retraces the periods passed thru by his
ancestors, engaging in games of hunting, playing with animals,
etc., thus representing the different stages of progress. This
theory is not accepted today. Groos1 put forward a theory
that play acted as a preparation for the serious business of
life, that the kitten chases the ball over the floor, thus pre-
paring for the more serious chasing of the mouse in later
life; that the child in his play prepares itself for the work
of life, imitating the occupation of adults, the girl playing
with dolls, making mud pies, and imitating the work of her
mother, and the boy imitating that of his father by playing
horse, building houses, etc. While this undoubtedly is a valid
explanation of a great deal of play during early youth, when
the child is under the impulse to imitate its elders, it does
not explain all play. It does not take into consideration the
elements of emulation and rivalry, which play such an impor-
tant part in our modern games, like baseball, tennis, basket-
ball, hockey, and football; or such sports as boxing, wrest-
ling, running, and swimming; or even such quiet games as
chess, checkers, and cards. In fact the motives are too com-
plex and varied to he-explained by any one theory, and further-
more no real line can be drawn between work and play. To
many their occupation is simply a game, and the spirit of
emulation and rivalry is as strong as on the athletic field.
The spirit of play is much more highly developed among some
peoples than among others, being very extensively cultivated
among the European races; of these peoples the English and
their descendants take the lead. The Orientals cannot see
how Europeans or Americans will use so much exertion upon
the tennis court, football field, or baseball diamond, asking
if it would not be possible to get coolies to do that work.
The spirit of play can, however, be developed, for the Chinese
and Japanese are rapidly adopting our games, especially base-
ball and tennis. Play gives a chance to exercise the primi-
tive instincts and motives, and to develop individuality. In
I past times this impulse was discouraged, but today we are
almost going to the opposite extreme by giving it at times
too great a freedom. It does afford an excellent opportunity

'Groos, Karl, "Play oj Animals" and "The Play of Man".

If «

INSTINCTS, FEELING, AND INTELLECT 301

to train the child and to develop those qualities needed so
much in life, such as self-control and sportsmanship, as well
as to build up a physique for life's battles. The child who
cannot play, being deprived of playmates or opportunity to
exercise this innate tendency, is sorely handicapped for life.
So important is the spirit of play that it is being incorporated
more and more into our school systems, its educational values
being almost unlimited. It is one of those normal tendencies
which must be directed and controlled; if wisely handled, it
is one of the most important gifts with which man has been
endowed.

While instincts are present as motive forces in practically
all human beings, they differ greatly in degree, some being
much stronger in one individual than in another. This is one
of the causes of the greater ability and success of certain
persons in comparison with that of others. They differ also
between the sexes: the female, being endowed with stronger
sympathetic, and social impulses, is more emotional and is
guided more by instinct and emotion than is the male; on the
other hand, the male has the combative or pugnacious impulse
to a much higher degree than the female. Sometimes the
male is referred to as being katabolic, or inclined to
expend energy, being more active; while the female is
anabolic, or inclined to store up energy, liking to be
passive and conservative. While we must recognize this
as an innate difference, we must remember also that social
conditions have increased it. Society has hedged 'woman
about with restrictions, and she therefore has not had an
equal chance with man for development, especially with regard
to physique and accomplishments. Woman's inferior physique
today is to a great extent the result of social conditions, for
custom and habit have prevented her from developing her
muscles; her activity has been restricted by skirts, corsets,
and high-heeled shoes, and her health has often been ruined
by disregard of the rules of health. Yet while neither sex
can be said to be superior mentally, there is undoubtedly an
innate difference between the male and the female, altho
not to such a marked degree as in the case of the physical
difference. As we have pointed out in another chapter, we
cannot claim mental superiority for one race over another;
the difference is a matter of individuals and not of races.
Similarly while the sexes differ in the proportion of the differ-

302 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

ent innate characteristics possessed we cannot claim supe-
riority for either sex.

Altho instincts were more important with primitive man
than with civilized man (because civilization is able to train
and educate man, so that he is less dependent upon innate
impulses), they cannot be ignored in an analysis of present-
day society. But under modern conditions they alone are
not safe guides; they must be supplemented and controlled
by reason and intelligence. While education does not sup-
plant them, it enlarges them and increases their usefulness.
Ellwood sums up their usefulness as follows:1

"The native impulses are, then, from the psychological point of view
the basis of man's social life. Representing the innate or the biological
element in the relationships of individuals, they are necessarily the raw
material out of which the social life is developed. They are the psycho-
logical expression of the biological forces of selection and heredity as
these latter well up in the social life at any particular moment. While
they furnish only the beginnings of social organization, that is, only
certain simpler co-ordinations between individuals, it is their modifica-
tion by feeling • and intelligence, functioning with respect to environ-
ment, which produces the acquired habits out of which all higher forms
of social co-ordination and social organization must issue. Concealed
beneath these acquired modes of behavior or conduct in the individual
and in society, behind them all, are always the various instinctive
impulses. As they represent the original motor activities, they may
well be characterized, therefore, as the real propelling forces of society,
since the feelings and emotions, as have been already pointed out, do
not lie behind these activities but rather accompany them. The physi-
ological impulses, then, which when viewed from the psychological side,
we term instincts, are the true primary forces of human society, the ulti-
mate springs of all activity; and the guidance and control thru the edu-
cation of the individual and the organization of social relationships
between individuals, that is, their control thru reason, is the ultimate
practical problem of human social life."

Feeling. — Feeling is another element of human nature
which has been either neglected or exaggerated by the sociol-
ogist. It is closely allied with instinct and forms a sort of
connecting link between instinct and intellect. It is shared,
altho in differing degrees, by both man and animals. Pro-
fessor Ward1 treats feeling as the dynamic agent of society,
showing that it resulted from life and that intellect developed
from feeling. He postulates that feeling was the true pro-
pelling forces for both animals and man. He placed however
a very broad interpretation upon feeling, treating it as iden-

'Ellwood, Charles A., "Sociology in Its Psychological Aspects", pp. 245-6.
Ward, Lester F., "Pure Sociology", Chap. VI.

INSTINCTS, FEELING, AND INTELLECT 303

tical with desire, as embracing all wants, volitions, and aspi-
rations. In short, he treats feeling as synonymous with
desire — an interpretation that is entirely too broad. Feel-
ings are sometimes called the emotional side of instinct and
it is with this emotional conception of feeling that sociology
is particularly interested. Man is more or less an emotional
creature. He is subject to and affected constantly in his
everyday actions by such emotions as joy, envy, admiration,
gratitude, reverence, loathing, scorn, reproach, jealousy,
revenge, shame, bashfulness, pity, happiness, and sorrow.
While feeling is not the primary factor or the chief end in
life, it is an element which must be considered and recog-
nized as affecting human action. It is discussed by Profes-
sor Ellwood as follows:1

"Feeling is, then, a powerful factor in determining the coadaptation
of individuals to one another in society. Feeling attitudes of individuals
towards each other not only express the relation of their habitual activ-
ities, but also continually modify these activities. While in the main
feeling is a somewhat conservative and passive influence in society,
yet on account of its subjective and individual character it continually
brings to bear an individualizing influence upon all social activities.
Feeling is, therefore, an active as well as a passive factor in the social
life. On the individual side it is continually modifying activity, both
in conscious and unconscious ways. Feeling must, therefore be taken
into account, not only in any theoretical interpretation of the social
life, but in all practical measures for modifying or controlling social
activities. While not a primary force in society, feeling presents itself
as an important secondary force."

Intellect. — It is the possession of intellect which has been
the determining factor in man's progress as compared with
his animal neighbors. We find that the members of the
animal world are equipped with instincts and feeling, altho
in a manner slightly different from that of man. Animals
are likewise equipped with the senses, keener for the most
part than those of man, and many of the animals excel him
in strength and speed. But when it comes to intellect he
stands alone, and it is because of this attribute that he has
conquered nature and has changed his environment instead
of allowing himself to be changed by it. Intellect plays the
deciding role in the battle of life. Professor Ward attempts
to show how intellect developed from feeling; but the matter
of origin is outside the field of sociology, for many possessed
intellect long before sociology takes up the study of him and

'Ellwood, Charles A., "Sociology in Its Psychological Aspects", p. 259.

304 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

his institutions. The earliest men that we can locate were
fully equipped with intellectual powers. It is intellect that
guides and directs the feelings and instincts, for without it
they are not capable of lifting man above the animal world.
The key to man's behavior does not lie in his environment,
but in his mental makeup. It is intellect that puts values
upon activities and then determines actions. How this decis-
ion is made depends of course upon what the intellect con-
siders of the greatest value. It carries out the suggestions
of the instincts and satisfies the cravings of the feelings, but
it also modifies and at times even vetoes their suggestions.
It is to the intellect that both instincts and feelings go for
commands. But because it generally listens to instinct and
feeling thots and ideas are of course colored and influenced
by them.

Invention and discovery are made possible by intellect,
for it is intellect that sees the need and the opportunity and
brings them together. Without intellect material progress
would have been impossible and man would have remained
an animal among animals, provided he did not become exter-
minated. Civilization has simply been the accumulation of
ideas, the piling up of inventions and discoveries, and the
passing on to future generations of the wisdom of the past.
An idea is precious and new ideas are rare things; it is very
seldom that a new idea or invention is added to civiliza-
tion. In general we only imitate or repeat the past experi-
ence, slowly improving upon it by adding a bit here and a
bit there. Most of the things that we learn are really dis-
coveries of the past, and it is very seldom that we are able
to add to this mass of experiences; but it is in this way that
progress is made. Social ideals are also the results of intel-
lect, being the valuations placed by intellect upon acts or
activities of mankind.

We have taken up in this chapter, as a starting point in
our analysis of society, the study of man's social equipment;
this was to enable us the better to analyze man's actions and
the workings of society. It will also give us an introduc-
tion to our study of the interests of society and the forces
and institutions that control society. In this we have made
no attempt to go into the psychology or the biology of these
matters; we have merely taken them as we found them, and
we shall use these facts only to help explain society.

INSTINCTS, FEELING, AND INTELLECT 305

READING REFERENCES

ELLWOOD, CHARLES A., Introduction to Social Psychology, Chaps. IX-XI.
McDouGALL, WILLIAM, An Introduction to Social Psychology.
ELLWOOD, CHARLES A., Sociology in Its Psychological Aspects, Chaps.

IX-XI.

WALLAS, GRAHAM, The Great Society.
WARD, LESTER F., Pure Sociology, Chaps. VI-VII.
HAYES, EDWARD C., Introduction to the Study of Sociology, Chaps.

XVII and XVIII.

BALDWIN, J. M., Social and Ethical Interpretations, Part III.
McDouGALL, WILLIAM, Mind and Body.
COOLEY, CHARLES A., Human Nature and the Social Order.
COOLEY, CHARLES A., Social Organization, Chaps. I and II.
GROOS, KARL, Play of Animals.
GROOS, KARL, Play of Man.

VEBLEN, THORSTEIN, The Instinct of Workmanship.
PARMELEE, MAURICE, The Science of Human Behavior.

CHAPTER XVI
SOCIAL INTERESTS

By social interests we mean the stimuli which cause people
to act. We do certain things; we get up in the morning,
dress, eat breakfast, and rush to our work at the office, store,
or factory; with the exception of a lunch hour we work all
day; we come home at night, eat dinner, and spend the even-
ing at home in reading, playing cards, or just resting or per-
haps by going to the moving picture show, theatre or opera
according to our likes and means. On Saturday afternoon
we may go to the ball game, and on Sunday drive to the
park or to church in the morning and sleep or go to the ball
game in the afternoon. Why do we such things? Why do
we go to the theatre or to the ball game? Why do we eat
three times a day and sleep eight hours a night? Why do
we spend so many years in the school room, often to the detri-
ment of our health? Why do we risk life and limb in dan-
gerous sports like polo or football? Why do we spend our
lives working to buy houses, clothes, food, theatre tickets,
flowers, books, magazines, automobiles, or yachts, when we
could get along and live just as long without most of these
things? Why will we spend our life-times in building up indus-
tries, fortunes, or institutions, which we ourselves seldom
have time to enjoy? Why will we spend our lives writing
books which nobody will /ead, or working in the laboratory
making experiments the results of which nobody cares about,
or teaching in college theories which will be of little prac-
tical value to anyone? We do such things because we want
to. But why do we want to? Because there are interests
in society which stimulates us to do them. It is with such
stimuli that this chapter will deal.

Many of these stimuli or interests like the desire for food,
grow directly out of our instinctive impulses, but many of
them, such as the desire to see a ball game or to go to the
opera, are artificially created by society, altho these interests
may be indirect outgrowths of instinctive impulses. The intel-

306

SOCIAL INTERESTS 307

lect plays its part in shaping these interests, modifying and
adapting the instinctive impulses. Many sociologists do not
distinguish between social forces and social interests, but
treat them all together, either under one heading or the
other. But social forces include the influences, such as the
geographical environment, which help or hinder man in his
pursuits; and the laws of heredity, which limit his achieve-
ments and determine his environment, healthful or unhealth-
ful, in society itself, e. g., home influences, religious control,
and housing conditions. Forces may be either external or
internal, objective or subjective; while interests are more
subjective, or within one^s direction. In previous chapters
we have considered the influence of physical forces upon pop-
ulation; now we take up the interests that prompt man to
act. In our next chapter we shall consider the control of
man by means of the institutions created by him. These
institutions develop directly thru the interests in much the
same way that the interests are the results of the instincts,
feelings, and intellect. Altho we act as a rule without stop-
ping to reason out why we act, we shall attempt to analyze
and study these actions.

Many sociologists have tried to classify and arrange the
forces or interests in more or less definite tables, with varying
degrees of success.1 While all these classifications are
extremely suggestive and worthy of study, no one arrange-
ment is wholly satisfactory. The simplest and possibly the
most suggestive, altho at the same time probably the most
severely criticized, is that of Professor Small, who classifies
interests under the headings of health, wealth, sociability,
knowledge, beauty, and Tightness. But such a classification
will of course not include all interests of society. In this
work interests will be arranged according to groups, not

lThe most important of these classifications are those of Ward, treated as social
forces, found in "Pure Sociology", p. 261; Ratzenhofer, treated as interests, found in
"Sociologische Erkenntniss" , pp. 54-66, and Small's "General Sociology", p. 252;
Stuckenberg, found in "Sociology", Vol. I, p. 207; Small, treated as interests, dis-
cussed in "General Sociology", pp. 443-467, and The American Journal of Sociology,
Vol. VI, pp. 177-199; Ross, treated as social forces, in "Foundations of Sociology",
p. 169; and latest (and because of that the best) given by Blackmar and Gillin,
treated as forces, in "Outlines of Sociology", pp. 287-288. Blackmar and Gillin also
give in Part III, Chap. II, of this same book these other classifications. They are
omitted from this volume because of the lack of space and because the average stu-
dent finds so many classifications more confusing than instructive. So in this text
use will be made of all these schemes and no attempt will be made to classify the
social forces for the simple reason that no really satisfactory classification can be
made. The interests are too complex and too intricately interwoven to allow sepa-
ration and arbitrary arrangement.

308 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

because the arrangement given shows the order of importance
or is the only means of arrangement, but simply because
some kind of method has to be adopted. No attempt will
be made to include all social interests or to show the various
relationships of all of these interests. The aim will be to
aid the student to obtain a grasp of the matter and to be as
suggestive as possible without becoming technical or philo-
sophical.

Physical Interests. — Under instinct we discussed the food
impulse and the instincts for self-preservation. Out of these
impulses have grown the physical interests. The desire for
food and drink is one of the chief interests of man. This
means not only sufficient food and water to supply the body;
the interest has been developed until the appetite demands
foods, which are well seasoned, carefully prepared, and pos-
sessed of peculiar tastes. It has even taken extravagant
forms, demanding unusual and expensive dishes, such as
the extreme forms of the days of the old Roman banquets,
when peacocks' brains and nightingales' tongues were in
demand and when the depths of the sea and the corners of
the earth were searched for rare and peculiar foods. This
has also taken abnormal turns, such as the cravings for
intoxicants and drugs, and has gone to such an extreme that
the average American family formerly spent annually
nearly $100.00 on liquor alone. The demand for drink has
passed from that of water to that for drinks which have
pleasing tastes, such as tea, coffee, chocolate, lemonade, lime-
ade, and the various concoctions furnished by the soda foun-
tain and the saloon.

The demand for clothing arises in large part because of
physical interest, altho clothing was adopted for the sake
of ornament and is still to a great extent worn for that pur-
pose. But with modern society clothing is absolutely essen-
tial, especially in our northern climates. The desire for
shelter is much the same, altho in a modern house we demand
far more than mere healthful shelter, requiring beauty, con-
genial location, and convenience.

Aversion to pain, love of warmth, desire of ease of body,
as well as the demand for safety from physical injury, are
other examples of physical interests. Craving for exercise
is to a large extent a direct result of the health interest.
Desire for sensuous pleasure also is included under physical

SOCIAL INTERESTS 309

interests. In short, the group of interests comprises all
interests leading to the satisfaction of any bodily demand.
Economic Interests. — While of minor importance under
primitive conditions, this class of interests is perhaps today
the strongest set of interests prompting man to activity.
Under this heading comes any interest leading to the produc-
tion or accumulation of wealth. It is closely connected and
at times inseparable from physical interests, for wealth is
produced in order to satisfy human demands, many of which
are physical. Man works for a wage because that wage
will procure him what he wants. He accumulates property
so as not to be in want in the future; yet those who build
up and organize industry seldom are required to do it merely
in order to supply their physical needs. Industry is founded
upon other pillars than physical need; rivalry, love of osten-
tation, instinct of workmanship, etc. Sociology has no use
for the conception of the "economic man" of the classical
economists. Sociology recognizes that man strives for wealth
as a means, in order to gain control, achieve prestige, win a
wife, buy a title, or gain the applause of his fellows; or for
the mere sake of the game as well as for the satisfaction of
his physical needs. Wealth is, in brief, the means of satis-
fying other interests. Yet it does not destroy the validity of
the economic interest that it cannot be separated from the
other interests or that, acting as a means rather than as
an end, it leads to them. Man labors in order to produce,
exchange, distribute, and consume wealth. This wealth may
bring him the power of satisfying desires for influence in
society, power over rivals, books, art treasures, travel, music,
or sensual pleasure. He may not take advantage of these
things, but wealth to him is the representation of them. For
the sake of wealth men toil and deny themselves the satis-
faction of other interests; they organize their lives for this
purpose and for meeting the demands of the wealth-getting
process. They may do this for their own wealth interest
or may by the organization of society be compelled to do
it for the benefit of someone else. With primitive man this
interest was not so strong, the other more direct interests,
particularly the physical, taking precedence over it; but as
the satisfaction of wants becomes more indirect and as the
indirect and as consumption of goods is postponed thru the
increase in the number of steps in the production and distri-
bution of wealth, the wealth interest becomes stronger, until

310 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

under our present capitalistic organization it is probably the
strongest interest in society.

Sociability Interests. — The sociability instinct of man
has continued thruout history and has permeated every branch
of human society. Man cannot live a Robinson Crusoe exist-
ence; he has to have companionship. In order to obtain it
he will deny himself the satisfaction of other interests, accept-
ing smaller pay, enduring privation, and even suffering hard-
ship. Solitary confinement is one of the worst punishments,
and even temporary absence from friends and relatives is con-
sidered a hardship. One craves not merely companionship,
but also congenial companionship, the association of kindred
spirits. While there are many exceptions, it is the general
tendency for each member of society to seek out and mingle
with others of like character, temperament, ability, and train-
ing. This is not always possible, but such is the desire and
effort of each person. We want to associate with others of
our kind. We see this principle illustrated by the exclusive-
ness of the members of so-called society in their efforts to
exclude those whom they consider unfit, especially finan-
cially, to be one of their set. We find the same sentiment
in the college fraternity, the club, the fraternal order, and
even — sad to say — too often in some of the churches. If
we watch any large gathering where there is freedom of move-
ment, we shall quickly notice the drifting together of those
having like interests and desires — unconscious perhaps, but
inevitable. This interest is so strong in society that Pro-
fessor Giddings built around it a whole system of sociology.
We find that this interest has been a strong factor in history,
kindred spirits founding colonies, after the order of Plymouth,
Pennsylvania, and Maryland, and founding model commu-
nities, such as Brook Farm, Arcadia, the Oneida Community,
and the various Shaker communities. We find them engaging
in piritical expeditions, and in warlike campaigns of con-
quest or discovery, starting revolutions, establishing govern-
ments, founding religions, going in fact into all the varied
activities of life. If we took away from society this craving
for companionship, life would be devoid of much of its charm.
Man desires the sympathy of his fellows; he has to satisfy
his pride and vanity. To gratify his love of power and glory
he must have companions to witness the achievement. Tho
it is not the only factor or even the chief interest in society,

SOCIAL INTERESTS 311

the sociability interest is one of the most important and
must be prominently included in a study of any undertaking.
Recreation Interests. — Chiefly connected, often inextric-
ably with the sociability interests are the recreational inter-
ests. The play impulse craves satisfaction. The demand for
muscular activity, for rest from labor, for expression of emo-
tions — all find their achievement in the recreation interests.
Not only the child but even the adult craves recreation. In
America recreation generally takes the form of team play,
for which several participants are necessary and the number
of onlookers is often limited only by the seating capacity.
Our great footbalf games draw thousands; in fact stadiums
and amphitheatres cannot be constructed large enuf to satisfy
the demand in some places. At important games our base-
ball parks are crowded and people have been known to stand
in line all night so as to insure themselves good seats at
some of our championship games between the two leading
professional leagues. Theatres are often sold out for weeks
in advance of popular performances. The moving picture
business has sprung up with wonderful rapidity, simply in
response to the demand for cheap amusement. Games provide
fellowship as well as furnish rest and relaxation. Ideas of
recreation differ among races; the English and Americans
as a rule take their recreation violently in active energetic
sports; the Oriental takes his in respose and meditation. It
is hard to draw the line between recreational interests and
artistic interests, dancing, singing, and many games being on
the borderland between them. Recreation is also vitally con-
nected with other interests, for the economic motive functions
in many of our sports and actually controls some, such as
organized baseball and the professional sports in general. To
many, engaging in sports is an occupation; among these are
the professional boxer, wrestler, and baseball player. Teach-
ing games is a profession, in fact a very well paid profession.
Many people mingle pleasure with work, some taking keen
pleasure in their work. The negro, for example, is never a
good workman until he gets himself into the right emotional
attitude; the successful employers of negro labor always see
to it that they have some workers who are good singers;
these they induce to lead lively tunes. In this way they man-
age to have the work done much more rapidly. If one can
fall in love with his work and treat it is a game, he will
not only enjoy it more but will as a rule be far more sue-

312 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

cessful in it than if he looked upon it as a task to be done.
If he can combine work with the proper amount of recreation,
he can accomplish work of a much higher order than if he
took no recreation. While often slighted and sometimes
allowed too great liberty, the play interest is a valid one,
and when held under the proper control is a great aid to
man. Sports, especially those where courage and daring are
required, teach courage and a spirit of fair play. They also
quicken the eye and the memory, train the muscles to accu-
racy and quickness of movement, and if properly conducted
fit man for usefulness in society, in addition to satisfying the
craving for amusement. This interest is perfectly normal
and worthy and should be encouraged and regulated.

Religious Interests. — In our earlier chapter on Religion
and Ethics we studied the development of religion, tracing
the various steps in its evolution. In our next chapter we
shall again consider religion, this time as an element of social
control. So all we shall do here is to mention this class of
interests; but religious interests must be included among social
interests, for they enter into every phase of our life, sup-
plying motives of action or restraint, generally the latter.
Everybody has some sort of religious nature and is affected
by it, even tho he try to subdue or kill it. While this interest
is to a certain extent innate, it is largely the result of culti-
vation. As the conception of religion becomes loftier this
interest changes in a corresponding manner. Closely con-
nected and interwoven with the religious interests are ethical
and altruistic interests. They supply motives which are less
sordid than physical and economic motives. While man is
probably innately selfish, he has some ideas of Tightness and
justice and wants to see fair play. He may not be so anxious
to give the other fellow fair play as he is to have the other
fellow give it to him, and he is much more eager to compel
others to observe it than he is for them to compel him to
practice it. But nevertheless there is the altruistic tendency,
which has been steadily growing as civilization has been
advancing. The world has gradually thrown off the shackles
of inequality: freeing the slave, elevating the serf, destroy-
ing the absolutism of rulers or limiting their powers, extend-
ing the right of self-government to more and more people,
allowing women constantly greater freedom, changing the
form of law from the arbitrary command of one or a few
to the mature opinion of many, and substituting milder and

SOCIAL INTERESTS 313

more just forms of punishment of crime for the harsh and
prejudiced decisions of those in power. Because of the rise
of ethical and altruistic sentiments religion has grown purer
and loftier. The altruistic sentiment, not being an innate
characteristic at all, has been developed out of sympathy.
There is a growing sentiment in favor of caring for others.
Formerly we looked with indifference at the suffering of
others, provided they were not related to us or connected
with us by ties of friendship, but now we draw no lines. The
great war conditions presented an illustration of this fact;
the neutral nations not only sent vast sums to care for the
orphaned, crippled, and needy of the warring nations, but
furnished hospitals, nurses, and doctors, often at great sacri-
fices, in order to relieve the suffering of those in distress.
If a famine is caused in India by the failure of a crop, or
if an earthquake or volcanic eruption destroys the means of
living in some one of the islands of the Atlantic or Pacific,
food pours in from all sections of the earth. Distress in
China is relieved even if those administering help are called
"foreign devils" and are in peril for their very lives. The
Americans have repeatedly tried to relieve the sufferings of
the Mexican people during the past decade, altho at the
same time bands of Mexicans were destroying all the prop-
erty belonging to Americans that they could lay their
hands on and even killing the Americans who fell into their
power. The American government even endured insult after
insult and yet did its best to straighten out chaos in Mexico
and to give the people a stable form of government, when
at the same time the Mexicans were too low in the ethical
scale even to appreciate the meaning of such a policy and
thru ignorance were doing their best to bite the hand that
was trying to help them. This altruistic sentiment has
affected the policies of other governments as well, being espe-
cially reflected in the policy of England toward her depend-
ents, South Africa furnishing the best example. After con-
quering that country the English gave the Boers better gov-
ernment and more real independence and freedom than they
had enjoyed before, allowing even the election of the com-
mander-in-chief of the Boer army to the presidency of the
new republic, which embraced all of English South Africa.
The Boers, however, showed their ability to appreciate such
treatment and remained loyal to England in her time of dis-

314 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OB1 SOCIOLOGY

tress during the World War, thus proving the worth of such
a policy.

Formerly we took the attitude of isolation in regard to
the misery of the lower classes, but now we try not only
to relieve suffering but also to prevent its repetition. We
attempt, not to keep free from contamination, but to grapple
with the problem and relieve the distress. Instead of keep-
ing clear from diseases we try to find the cures for them;
scientists even risk and oftentimes lose their lives in order
to find the cures for such scourges as yellow fever, leprosy,
the bubonic plague, spotted fever, and tetanus. Reformers
throw their whole souls into the work of wiping out such
evils as the liquor traffic, opium habit, graft in politics, and
child labor, altho personally they are not injured by such
evils. People with comfortable incomes fight for minimum
wage legislation; those who work short hours, for an eight-
hour day; those who have not gone to jail, for the reform
of our prison systems; those who live in comfortable homes,
for building codes and housing reforms; those who do not
work in factories, for protection against dangerous machinery
and for sanitary and hygienic factories. Missionaries go to
foreign fields to labor there for a salary of $600.00 to $1000.00
a year, when they could command several times that at home.
Others give their lives to the elevation of the lower classes
and the relief of distress at home. All these illustrations go
to show the increase of altruistic motives and the importance
of these interests in society. We may expect this group of
interests to become stronger and stronger as civilization
advances.

Political Interests. — Like the economic interests the polit-
ical interests are often merely the outgrowths of other inter-
ests. The rule once was that of the strong arm; early polit-
ical organization was a means of enforcing the authority of
a few. Later it became the means of giving justice to many.
But even today the government is frequently made to be
a means of satisfying the selfish desires of individuals. It
is asserted that the Constitution of the United States was
written by the capitalist class, who consciously or uncon-
sciously framed it so as to protect their interests. One of
the chief purposes of government is to protect the citizens
of the state, and in this way it is an outgrowth of the instincts
for protection and self-defense. It is the means of enforcing
and administering justice, of preserving and protecting the

SOCIAL INTERESTS 315

economic interests. The state protects property and regu-
lates its exchange and administration, and often political inter-
ests are merely for the sake of carrying out economic interests.
It is the means of protecting the individual against violence
and unhealthful conditions, and thus it accomplishes the
furthering of the physical or health interests. It is a means
of enlarging the altruistic or humanitarian interests thru care
of the poor, sick, defective, and dependent classes. Yet like
the economic interests the political interests have a distinct
field of their own, politics being separate from family life,
religious activities, commerce, and industry. Politics is a
profession; it is also an avocation for many who do not fol-
low it as a means of livelihood. In every well organized
state where there is a universal or partial suffrage, there are
developed political parties, each standing for certain more or
less definite purposes, such as policies of international trade,
regulation of industries, or institutions. These parties have
their rise, development, and decline, and are supplanted by
others. In a country like the United States party lines are
so well drawn and parties are so well organized that every
person is supposed to have, and generally does have, some
party affiliation, and in many places this affiliation is so
hard and fast that he will support his party regardless of
right or wrong, or of the merit of the question in dispute.

Such conditions are regrettable, and in fact they are slow-
ing breaking up, political organization being gradually looked
upon as a means to an end, rather than as an end in itself.
Yet the political interest, especially in a country which is gov-
erned more or less by the popular vote, is one which enters
into the daily life of almost every citizen and therefore can-
not be neglected, even if associated with it are other interests.

Esthetic or Artistic Interests. — Almost as far back as
we can trace the history of man we find the esthetic or artistic
interests at work in some form or other, first in personal
adornment or decoration and later in the decorations of tools,
•weapons, huts, and articles of use. Professor Ward has even
traced the development of these interests from animal decora-
tion, such as the fine plumage of birds and the natural decora-
tion of animals, as illustrated by the mane of the lion, the
stripes of the tiger, and the natural ornaments of the other
animals, all generally used as means of sex attraction. Man
adopted clothing for this purpose; and he has incorporated
the desire for decoration into every phase of his varied life.

316 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

It is closely akin to the recreation interests, for both enter
into many activities, like the dance or the drama. It is also
interwoven with religion, which has employed as an aid to
religious development, in the way of beautiful temples, cathe-
drals, vestments, and ceremonies of worship. Religion has
always made use of music (even at times of dancing), as
well as of architecture, painting, and sculpture. On the other
hand, religion has given art its greatest inspirations; the
most lofty poems and the best paintings and pieces of sculp-
ture are the results of religious inspirations. The finest stat-
ues that the world has known have been the endeavors of
the Greeks to represent their divinities, and the finest paint-
ings have resulted from the efforts of artists to depict relig-
ious scenes, among which are the Madonas, the Last Supper,
and Christ Be j ore Pilate; and the finest pieces of architec-
ture have been cathedrals and temples, such as the Temple
of Solomon, the Taj Mahal, and the cathedrals of Europe.
At times art and religion have collaborated; at other times
religion has restrained and controlled art. With the progress
of society artistic interests have separated into the interests
represented by the various divisions of art, as music, paint-
ing, sculpture, and architecture. These esthetic interests take
various forms among different races; things that appear beau-
tiful to one race may not appeal to the taste of another.
Ideas of physical beauty are unlike among different peoples;
the Hottentots, for example, consider fatness a sign of beauty
and as a rule select for the belles the fattest girls in the tribe ;
with other peoples suppleness and gracefulness of form are
the qualities desired. To a Kaffir child a thing is beautiful
if it is good to eat. In clothing the most 'of us desire beauty,
even before warmth, altho our ideas of beauty are sometimes
perplexing and change from year to year. We even desire
our food to be served in a manner pleasing to the eye. Fur-
niture must be beautiful as well as useful. As leisure time
increases and as man has more opportunities to gratify his
esthetic desires, the esthetic interests in socfety become more
pronounced; therefore we may anticipate a constant increase
in the importance of these interests.

Intellectual Interests. — Another group of interests,
which have been artificially developed by society, is composed
of the interests represented by knowledge, culture, and refine-
ment. The knowledge interest is a direct result of the activity
of the intellect. When man began life, he was confronted

SOCIAL INTERESTS 317

with facts of nature which he did not understand and which
he could not interpret. As a result he feared nature; but
after the immediate danger was over he began to ponder
and to think upon the why and wherefore of things; he began
to investigate and to discover causes. He found joy in this
process like that the child feels upon finding out things; pleas-
ure resulted from the satisfying of the feeling of curiosity.
This interest entered into religion and magic and into the
economic life. As soon as man would find out anything he
would pass it on to others. At first this was- a slow, difficult,
and uncertain process, but with the invention of an alpha-
bet and printing it was made easier. While utility was the
incentive to find out things, the very finding itself was pleas-
ant and gave a satisfaction all its own. In fact the working
of puzzles has always been an important amusement, and
many of our games, like chess, checkers, and solitaire have
as their chief element this characteristic. We like to do
things simply to be able to do them. The spirit of emula-
tion comes in too; we are ashamed not to know something
which someone else knows. Many people read books simply
to be able to say that they have read them or for fear of being
considered ignorant if they have not done so. Much of our
education brings us little practical utility. We often study
merely to learn things, knowing that we may make no prac-
tical use of our knowledge. We often learn arts like playing
the piano or violin, or singing, for the sole purpose of being
able to perform, because we consider it a mark of refinement
to know these arts. It is knowledge that has given man
his victory over nature, for without this product of intellect
man would still be little better than the animals. Knowl-
edge is necessary for the battle with life. In our present
society some knowledge is absolutely essential for life itself.
Knowledge is a means of maintaining the standard of life
and one's position in society. We have crystalized this inter-
est in our educational institutions, with their vast ramifica-
tions and intimate connection with the life of every person.
Yet the intellectual interests do not end here ; instead they only
begin, for in our schools we merely provide a start in life.
The intellectual interests are maintained thruout the entire
life. There is no limit to the increase of this interest and
it is in all probability the one which has had the largest
growth in the life of society and the one which bids fair
to show the greatest development in the future.

318 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

These are by no means all of the different groups of inter-
ests which might be mentioned, nor all of the branches of
those interests. Man is in fact made up of a bundle of
interests, each of which is pressing its claims for attention.
By interests we do not mean the great compelling forces of
society, but the motives and incentives that prompt man
to do things. These interests are also fundamental to our
social institutions. It is the religious interest which is crys-
talized into religious organizations; the political interests
underly law and government; the economic interest is the
cause for the building up of industry and commerce; our intel-
lectual interests produce educational institutions. Other inter-
ests are the incentives to other institutions. In the next
chapter we shall see how these institutions in turn control the
life of man.

Group Interests. — Society is made up of a collection
of groups. Each person in society is a member of several
groups. He is a member of some family, which is a group,
the one which is generally regarded as the fundamental social
group. He is at the same time a member of many other
groups, possibly of a church or Sunday School, a baseball
team, a business firm, a political party, a lodge, a club, a
board of directors, a chautauqua association, etc. He may
be not only a member of such more or less permanent groups
as have been mentioned, but he is continually becoming and
ceasing to become a member of temporary groups — he is
a unit of a crowd on the street corner, a passenger on the
street car or elevator, a member of a theatre audience or
a part of a crowd at the ball game or political meeting, tho
in the latter case he may not be a member of the party con-
ducting the meeting. He may belong to several groups at
the same time. Each time he is influenced to some extent
by the group of which he is a member, even if it is merely
the group in the express elevator. At the same time he exer-
cises his influence upon the other members of the group,
tho he may never speak to them. Groups may be consciously
and purposely organized or they be unconsciously and acci-
dently formed. Each group stands for a definite purpose,
especially the conscious and purposeful group, like the polit-
ical party or the church; but even the crowd on the street car
has a purpose in common — that is they are desirous of riding
on the same car at the same time. In brief, these groups
are the results of social interests, whether these interests be

SOCIAL INTERESTS 319

lasting or fleeting; each interest causes for the time being the
formation of a group.

The group is always stronger than the individual, for he,
tho helping to shape the group, is controlled by it. If he
is a member of a church, he is obliged to abide by the regula-
tions of that body, altho he may have a voice in the making
of those regulations. The group is continually whipping
the individual into line. The code of conduct demanded by
the group may or may not be superior to that of the indi-
vidual. In the group the individual may try to hide his
meaner self and show only his better nature, and yet in other
crowds the opposite may be true, as illustrated by a crowd
lynching a negro for insulting a white man. The crowd may
be controlled by the better spirits or by the baser ones,
depending upon conditions. Some individuals always rise
above the group, but on the other hand there are individuals
who are always below the group standard. But the group
is continually trying to compel its members to be alike.
Group standards are always made for the average person and
there are always those who chafe under them. Seniors in
college occasionally object to requirements and restrictions
which to the Freshman seem very lenient, because these
requirements and restrictions are not made for Seniors but
for the average college student, who is theoretically half
way between the Sophomore and Junior years. The Senior
has grown tired of diem, has possibly outgrow them. It is
much the same with nearly all groups. If a person is too
big for his group (a situation which often arises), he should
get out of it, because he will either neglect his duties, because
he does not value his position or arouse the jealousy or envy
of his fellows, or possibly both. As a result it is often much
more difficult for a person to fill a position which is too small
for him than one which is too big, for in the latter case his
associates do not envy or fear him, so are willing to help
him out of his difficulties. Social progress consists in raising
standards — which means the elevation of group standards
— and this must be the result of individual action within
the group. The reformer as a rule is hated and ridiculed,
sometimes even persecuted and killed. The problem of life
often consists in finding out how far to be the reformer and
when to be merely an conformer. The innovator must always
carry the burden of proof. Yet the success of the group
depends not upon the subjection of the individual, but in

320 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

its service to the individual members of the group. If it
retards their interests, it will be only a question of time until
it is retired. Sometimes group struggles, however, are merely
struggles between individuals within the group, and sometimes
it is best for society for the individual to remain in a certain
group — i. e., the penitentiary, reformatory, insane asylum,
feeble-minded school, hospital. While the individual might
live a freer life outside the group, it is often best to remain
in it — for instance, in the family. An individual may func-
tion well in one group and be a failure in another. He may be
a model husband and father, yet be a pickpocket or gambler by
occupation ; he may be a successful minister and yet neglect his
family; he may be a magnificent athlete and yet be a poor stu-
dent ; he may be a splendid salesman and yet not pay his debts.

As a rule groups — that is, permanent groups — in society
follow occupational lines. Followers of each occupation form
a group by itself; bricklayers belong to their union, work for
its advancement, and associate with other bricklayers and
with workers in allied trades; factory hands join together
to form their own groups; so do employers in the different
fields of industry; professional people associate according to
professions; day laborers herd together in much the same
way. This grouping is not altogether on the basis of occu-
pation, but also in regard to recreation, social endeavors, relig-
ion, and politics. There are churches which cater to the rich
and others which are attended only by the poor. Stores in the
same way appeal to certain groups and each political party
tries to organize its followers according to occupational or
racial lines, appealing to these interests to hold them together.
Farmers associate with farmers not only in economic ways,
but for religious, social, educational, and welfare interests.
While there are many exceptions to this rule, it is the tend-
ency, where conditions permit, for those of the same or kin-
dred occupations to associate and form groups based on inter-
ests even outside of their real occupational interests, simply
because they have certain things in common and because
of this feel more at home with those of the same or allied
occupations than with members of other occupations.

We might go on and enumerate instances of group action

— the formation and breaking up of groups ; in fact we

might work out a whole system of associations. Man does

not act or function individually, but as a member of some

group. So important is this matter of group interest that

SOCIAL INTERESTS 321

Professor Small considers that the study of sociology is pri-
marily a study of groups, group interests, and group action.
While we cannot of course go to that extreme, we give due
weight to this factor in society. Groups are to society what
words are to a speech or to a story; they make up society
in much the same way that the words make up the speech
or the story; yet taken by themselves they are often dull and
uninteresting. We must take into consideration their arrange-
ment and the thot back of them. To study groups we must
study the interests underlying them, the institutions which
they produce, and the setting which they have by reason of
their environment. We must not forget society because of
the groups; we must not overlook the achievements of man
in our eagerness to study the methods by which they were
brot about; we must not neglect the conditions and problems
of society in our study of the functions of groups.

Man has instincts, feelings, and intellect, and he is prompted
to act by interests which are largely the outgrowths of these
three factors. These interests take the forms of group inter-
ests; hence man functions in groups. These same group
interests lead to the development of institutions, which con-
trol society. The individual's relation to the group is much
the same as the relation of the letter to the word, or of
the atom to the molecule. He is a part of the group, but
the group is the stronger of the two. He ordinarily has a
hand in molding the group, but only as a member of the
group. Occasionally the individual is able to break up the
group and form another, or to remain in the group and con-
trol it; in fact we often find such cases, but the burden of
the proof is on the leader, and he must function for the
best interests of the group in order to hold this position and
convince his followers that he is doing so. In general it is
the group which control the individual and not the indi-
vidual which controls the group.

READING REFERENCES

BLACKMAR, F. W. AND GnxiN, J. L,., Outlines oj Sociology, Part III,

Chap. II.

Ross, E. A., Foundations of Sociology, Chaps. VII and VIII.
SMALL, ALBION W., General Sociology, Chaps. XXXI-XXXVII.
WARD, LESTER F., Pure Sociology, Chap. XII.
BALDWIN, J. M., Social and Ethical Interpretations, Chap. XI.
GIDDINGS, F. H., Principles of Sociology, pp. 79-194; 263-375.
FAIRBANKS, ARTHUR, Introduction to Sociology, Part II.
DEALEY, J. Q. AND WARD, L. F., Text-Book in Sociology, Part II.
ELLWOOD, CHARLES A., Sociology in Its Psychological Aspects' Chap. XII.

(J)

CHAPTER XVII
SOCIAL CONTROL

By social control we mean that form of control which
directs or governs the action of society or the groups that
compose society. It is that control which determines the
action of the group, rather than the action of the individual.
As each individual is a member of several groups, he is always
affected by such a form of control, but he is affected as a
member of a group, rather than as an individual.

Some type of social control is absolutely necessary in any
form of organized society; in fact we are so accustomed
to social control that we not only do not resent it, but we
ordinarily do not even recognize it, merely taking it as a
matter of course. But social control is not confined to highly-
civilized races, for the savage tribes as well have their sys-
tems of social control. The savage is governed by supersti-
tion, fear, and belief in charms and spirits, even tho he does
not have well developed social institutions. The form of
the control may be different, but the idea is the same; the
control is there and is just as effective, even if the means of
working it out may not be like those of modern society.

We do not contend at all that this social control is con-
sciously worked out, for it may be unconscious. As we
shall see, public opinion is probably the greatest means of
social control that we have had generally guides our action
without our forming any idea about it. Art, education, cus-
tom, and habit rule us in much the same way. Fear, super-
stition, and belief in spirits controlled the savage also in this
manner. Law of course is consciously felt, and religion often
is, altho not necessarily so.

Since the action of the individual affects society, it is only
right that society should have some say in regard to what
that action shall be. Society must have the right to defend
itself against the actions of unsocial individuals, also the
right to curb the extreme members of the group and to com-
pel the individual members to conform more or less strictly

322

SOCIAL CONTROL 323

to group standards and ideals. Not only is control necessary
for the advance and progress of the human race, but it has
been absolutely essential to life itself. As society becomes
more intricate and life more complex, social control becomes
more imperative. As population becomes denser, it becomes
more necessary for society to lay down rules and regulations
in regard to the actions of its members so as to protect the
rights of each, to prevent the strong from exploiting the weak,
and to keep the anti-social individuals from injuring the life
of normal society. As Ross maintains,1 sympathy, sociability,
and a sense of justice are common to all and form what he calls
a "natural order". We all have the ability to feel for others,
tho it is of course more developed in some than in others.
In some it applies only to those who are near or who come
into contact with them while in others it reaches out into
the higher feeling of altruism. With some it means only an
attempt to avoid, with others an attempt to relieve, and with
still others a desire to remedy permanently. We are all more
or less social beings; we cannot live isolated lives. We are
not only compelled to come into contact with our fellowmen,
but we also crave their company. Man was in early times
forced to be social to some extent to live, and in order to
advance we also are compelled to be social. In the same
way there is in all of us a sense of justice or love of fair
play, a liking to put contestants on an equal footing. This
is especially seen today in our games. The same feeling
exists among savages. It is much more highly developed
in some races, however, than in others, because of more favor-
able opportunities. For the same .reasons it is more highly
developed among men than women, altho sympathy is just
the opposite, being stronger among women, because it is a
natural outgrowth of the family relationship. This sense
of justice is not necessarily sympathy, for justice is an attempt
to make people equal and to treat them as equals, while sym-
pathy deals with unequals; it is the feeling on the part of
the strong of compassion for the weak, and for this very
reason is generally scorned by those who are strong and is
sought only when one feels his weakness and misfortune.
Because of this fact we cannot have a sense of justice when
we recognize partiality and such class distinctions as master
and slave, or lord and serf. The greater the inequality the
less chance for justice, and the harder it is for justice to be

'Ross, E. A., "Social Control", Part I.

324 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

recognized. Coupled with this sense of justice is a sense
of resentment if justice is not enforced. Not only do these
three — sympathy, sociability, and a sense of justice — form
a social order, but form a basis for social control, a reason
for its existence, and a groundwork for its ^tructure.

We find struggles between different forms of social control,
between different codes. We see this strongly developed when
one nation conquers another — e. g., the conquest of Persia
by the Greeks, of the Britons by the Normans, and of the
Poles and Finns by the Russians. We also saw it> tho less
forcibly, in this country when we received into our midst a
mass of immigrants. We find group morality coming into
conflict with individual morality. The individual is not always
wrong; in fact group morality is often lower than individual
morality, or perhaps we ought to say does not rise to such
heights. It holds more of a middle ground. We find the
group often stifling reform because the reform is too advanced
for the group to appreciate. On the other hand, we find the
group holding in restraint the wayward individual. If group
morality were not lower than the highest individual morality,
it could not be enforced.

To have social control we must also have some form of
authority to enforce it. To enforce this authority there have
sprung up at various times different classes which have exer-
cised control, for example prophets and priests, who have
been especially powerful in times of danger and mystery;
elders, who among many peoples, such as the American Indians,
have been looked up to for advice and council because of
their age and experience; the nobility thruout the Middle
Ages and in some countries even to this day; the capitalist
class, who have controlled whenever industry has been highly
developed; the educated and what Professor Ross calls the
"elite"1 like the Greek philosophers, the Stoics, the early
Christian Fathers, and the Mandarins of China; then there
have always been sporatic individuals or geniuses, who by
their own personality and brilliancy have gained power, among
whom might be mentioned Napoleon, Cromwell, and Hanni-
bal. The character of control varies of course with every
change in the ruling class or with every modification in
the system of control. The management of the capitalist
is different from that of the old landlords, which precede
it; also the control of the educated differs from that of the
elders.

'Ross, E. A., "Social Control", p. 83.

SOCIAL CONTROL 325

Means of Social Control. — Public Opinion. — Of the
various means or forms which social control takes public
opinion is probably the most important, and also the one
ordinarily least considered by the average person. Ross
divides this control into three parts:1 (1) Public sentiment,
or the admiration, abhorrence, respect, or disgust expressed
by the public in regard to an act or event. (2) Public judg-
ment, or the forming of an opinion in regard to the act;
a condemnation or approval; the decision as to whether the
act is good or bad, advantageous or disadvantageous. (3)
Public act, or measure taken by the public, other than the
sentiment or judgment mentioned, in regard to the act, in
order to affect conduct, to control such acts or actions —
to stop them, or prevent their repetition in the future.

Public opinion is expressed by the snub, the cut, the cold
shoulder; its aim is generally to ostracize. It finds expres-
sion not only thru the individualistic act but thru the press,
the pulpit, and public resolutions. It is brot more vividly
to our minds by the cartoon, the popular song, the poster,
and by any means that will help to develop and influence
public sentiment. But public opinion does not always con-
fine itself to such wild means of expression; it sometimes
becomes violent and frequently ends by riding the offender
on a rail, by applying a coat of tar and feathers, and by
lynching. It even breaks into the home at times and inter-
feres with family life, where the offense is such as wife-
beating, or cruelty to children. It even rides over laws and
enforces its decisions in spite of law. It sometimes compels
government officials to act, in fact public officials are always
more or less susceptible to it. Public opinion ostracises those
who do not go with the crowd. People will have little to
do with the persons who differ with them. While stronger
in some places than in others the force of public opinion is
seen in all sections of any country.

The United States government made very effective use of
public opinion in maketing its Liberty bonds, selling War
Savings Stamps, enforcing food regulations, and teaching other
methods of conservation and war economy during the past
war. It was also made use of by the Red Cross, Y. M. C. A.,
and other organizations. In all probability the tremendous
success of America's war program was due more to the force
of public opinion than to any other single cause.

lRoss, E. A., "Social Control".

326 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

Public opinion is extremely irregular in its actions, and is
much less uniform than law, altho often more effective. It
is often unjust, and while it frequently rights great wrongs,
as shown by such instances as the demanding of the Magna
Charta, the establishment of liberty in France, the forcing
of the president of France to pardon Dreyfus, and the com-
pelling the woolen and cotton mills in Massachusetts to grant
the workers increases in wages after the Lawrence strike in
1912, it has on the other hand frequently demanded and
obtained the execution of many of the world's greatest bene-
factors, among whom have been Christ, Socrates, Huss, and
innumerable other religious and political reformers. In fact
it seems to be the history of all nations that they have killed
their greatest benefactors. Public opinion often sets out to
right some great wrong, but when the wrong is overthrown,
instead of stopping and calming down continues and becomes
an ungovernable menace, as shown by the French Revolu-
tion and still more recently by the activities of the Bolshe-
viki in Russia.

Effects of Public Opinion. — (1). Probably the most
lasting effect of public opinion is found in our legal statutes.
Laws could not be made, still less enforced, unless backed
up by public opinion. The prohibition laws in Kansas and
Maine could not be enforced until public opinion was thoroly
in favor of them; then enforcement was comparatively easy
and effective. (2). Court decisions are influenced by it. This
is especially true of the Supreme Court of the United States,
for as a result of public opinion the Supreme Court has in
recent years given much more liberal interpretation of our
laws. A good illustration of this is the change in the inter-
pretation of the Sherman anti-trust act. (3). Policies of
nations are dictated by it; the breaking of the Triple Alliance
by Italy in the great war is a good example from modern
times. The people of Italy were in sympathy with France,
and not with Germany or Austria, and they compelled the
Italian government to go in on the side of Allies instead of
joining the countries with which she had an alliance. In a
republic this type of influence is still stronger. (4). When,
as already suggested, it controls the actions of individuals,
even if the individual is supposed to be disinterested and
impartial. This is seen every day in baseball games, when
not only the actions of the players but also the decisions of
the umpires are all too often influenced by the actions of

SOCIAL CONTROL 327

the crowd. In fact it is extremely difficult to find a compe-
tent umpire, one who can in the average town render fair
decisions, in spite of players or the crowd.

The growth of public opinion depends upon the freedom
of communication, particularly freedom of speech and free-
dom of the press. Its control is much greater in a republic
like the United States than in such a country as Russia, or
even Germany. Leaders must respect public opinion if they
are to succeed. The sucessful politician feels the pulse of
the people and expresses his policies along the lines with which
the public is in sympathy. Theodore Roosevelt is probably
the best recent example that can be found of the politician
who practices this method — perhaps the best that the United
States has ever produced. On the other hand William J.
Bryan has always managed to be just in advance of the
people; he promulgated policies before the people were ready
for them. Roosevelt took up many of these same policies
after they became popular. No great movement can succeed
unless supported by public opinion. If public opinion is
against a reform or a progressive policy, public opinion has
to be changed by a course of advertising and publicity before
the measure can be carried thru or made effective. While
irregular and erratic, public opinion is one of the strongest
and farthest reaching means of social control that we have.
The public cannot be "damned"; it has to be catered to.

Law. • — The importance of law as a means of social con-
trol is self-evident, and the majority of people would probably
put it first in the order of importance; but in reality it is
secondary to public opinion. In fact, as we have seen, it
is merely a reflection or echo of public opinion; it represents
the crystalization of public opinion. Laws are the rules
of society laid down for its government. They are to protect
society; to guard the individual against molestation and to
protest the public against the acts of the unsocial. In order
to protect, law takes into its hands the right of punishment.
As we shall see in a later chapter on crime, the theory of this
punishment has changed. At first punishment was a means
to get revenge, and then to repress or stamp out the so-called
criminal classes; this latter theory changed to one of refor-
mation, then to prevention. Yet the main idea of punish-
ment has been to protect society.

As a means of control law is more regular and methodical
than public opinion, and for that reason it is generally slower

328 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

and often clumsier. It is, however, more accurate, altho
we find some laws that are unjust just as we find public
opinion sometimes in the wrong. Laws are evaded by having
loop-holes found in them; in fact law often punishes those
who do not deserve it and allows those who deserve it to
escape without punishment. While law follows public opinion,
it is often far in the rear; it can never precede. Probably
the bulk of the large fortunes in this country were accumu-
lated by — or had their start — in methods which today would
be criminal, but which were legal at the time of the amass-
ing of the fortune because there were no laws preventing
such practices as rebating, pooling, stock-watering, forming
inter-locking directorates, paying starvation wages, boodling,
employing child labor, adulteration, under-cutting and under-
selling, and other unfair methods of competition. While law
is clumsy at times and unjust, it is necessary. What we need
in this line is not less law, but more efficient law, better laws,
abolition of useless and out-of-date laws, more effective legal
machinery, and more efficient courts. Most of our criticisms
of law are attributable to the inefficiency of our courts rather
than to the inadequacy of our laws.

Religion. — Ross in his "Social Control" treats religion
under two heads — "beliefs" and "social religion" -- but the
writer sees no necessity of making any such distinction. If
there should be any distinction it might be between theology
and religion.

Religion, or the belief in some superhuman personage or
power and faith in that power or person, has always been
one of the greatest controlling elements in human life. It
probably governs the life of the savage far more than it does
the life of the civilized person in his every day acts. In the
past this control was exercised largely thru the fear of bodily
pain or of future torment. The religion of the savage was
largely one of magic and superstition. He did not do certain
acts because he believed that doing them or failing to do
them would bring a penalty or punishment. He performed
certain rites before planting his crop for fear that if he
omitted them the seed would not grow or he would not be
able to reap a harvest. He performed other rites before set-
ting out on a warlike campaign for fear that the gods or
spirits would not bring him victory if he neglected them.
He avoided doing certain things as, for example the killing
of a sacred animal for fear that the act would arouse the

SOCIAL CONTROL 329

anger of the spirit or god represented by that animal, and
thus he would suffer for it. When the religion laid down
certain rules of life he followed them for fear of future tor-
ment, lest according to his belief in the transmigration of
souls, he have his soul pass into an impure or unpopular
animal, like a toad, snake, or worm. Fear of injuring the
spirits of ancestors, if ancestor worship was the recognized
form, was a strong means of controlling the actions of indi-
viduals. Fear of the charms and powers of medicine men
compelled tribes to obey them and carry out their wishes.
The same was true of the priests and prophets, because it
was believed that they had some connection with the super-
human power and so had the ability to injure or to bring
good. This is easily noticed in early Hebrew history, when
the prophets were feared and obeyed, not only by the common
people but by the kings as well. Even down to our present
time religion has controlled thru fear of hell-fire. Control is
exercised thru fear by the Brahmans, and Mohammedans,
and in many countries by the Greek and Roman Catholic
churches, by means of holding up not only future torment
but even present punishment. Provision for the future is
one of the strongest means used today by the modern Prot-
estant and Catholic churches for bringing people into line.
The modern tendency, however, is not to emphasize the
fear of torment and punishment so much as the delight of
future happiness and content. In other words religion is
holding out reward rather than threatening punishment. This
of course shows a great advance and gives a loftier meaning
to religion. It also enobles religious action. Not only the
desire of making provision for a happy future, but also that
of pleasing departed friends is one of the forms which religious
control takes. This is seen in our custom of decorating the
graves of the departed.

Religion controls also by forming a social unit, by making
a social center of the place of worship. The synagogue of
Jerusalem was a center not only of religious but of political
and social life. Our churches formerly served this purpose
better than they have done recently, and we are now endeav-
oring to make them perform this social function more effec-
tively in the future. Our city churches — that is the ones
that are successful — have already adopted this plan and are
using their church buildings during the week as halls for •
clubs; they are putting in gymnasiums in connection, organ-

330 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

izing baseball clubs, basketball teams, reading circles, classes
in manual training and domestic science, and are teaching
immigrants. In this way they are endeavoring to obtain
greater control over the lives of the people, in order to regain
the ground which the church has lost. If the church regains
its old prestige as a part of our life, it must obtain it thru
such a program as this. Formerly the church was the social
center of the community, and it must recover at least a part
of this influence if it serves the community as it should. The
church of course has surrendered to other institutions, par-
ticularly the school, functions which it can never regain, and
probably should not regain, because formerly these other insti-
tutions were not organized and the church had to undertake
these duties. A good illustration is found in the administra-
tion of poor relief. The charity organizations are probably
better fitted to do this work than the church — at least they
are doing it better than the church did.

Religion controls not only the lives of individuals, but also
the policies of nations and the destinies of races. The Moham-
medan conquests were incited entirely by religious zeal, and
were not stopped until the Mohammedan horde met a similar
force incited by Christianity at Tours under Charles Martel.
Religious motives drove the Hugenots out of France, massa-
cred the Armenians, caused the Pilgrims and Puritans to
migrate to Massachusetts, and Catholics to Maryland, and
thus helped settle America with a liberty loving race. It is
religion which has individualized the Jewish race and has
kept it from being abs9rbed by other races. The church for
centuries controlled the policies of the most of Europe, and
was not even separated from the state in France and Spain
till the last few years. It was even interwoven with the gov-
ernment of Russia before its overthrow and was possibly
the chief support of the Romanoffs. The nations engaged
in the great war all appealed to God for His help, each firmly
believing that He was on its side. The German, Russian,
French, and English governments all solemnly informed their
people that God was with them and would bring victory to
their side. The kaiser was particularly desirous of having
his name linked up with that of God.

t Religion has also had its influence in molding law and
has given us largely our conception of right and wrong. As
we noticed in our treatment of the family, Christianity exerted
a great influence in elevating the position of woman, thus

SOCIAL CONTROL 331

enabling the family to perform its service in the advance-
ment of civilization. Religion has also furnished inspira-
tion for artists, painters, sculptors, and poets, who have in
return also helped increase the controlling power of religion.
Religion has interwoven itself with practically all our social
institutions: we open our legislatures with prayer; we appeal
to God in our courts every time the oath is administered;
our coins bear the inscription "in God we trust"; we figure
time from the birth of Christ.

•" Many writers have exercised their ingenuity in showing
how religion has hindered civilization and has stood in the
way of progress; moreover in many cases they are correct,
for a number of instances where religious organizations have

v hindered progress can easily be found. For a long time the
church fought science. Men were burned at the stake as
heretics because they contended that the world was round;
because they had invented some new way of doing things;
or because they opposed some obsolete custom of the church.
Religious organizations have persecuted members of others
which disagreed with them; Mohammedans have persecuted
Christians, and Christians have persecuted Jews; Roman Cath-
olics have persecuted Protestants; Protestants have persecuted
Roman Catholics; Greek Catholics have persecuted both;
races and nations have been blotted out or nearly so thru

*• religious hatred. In fact, some of the greatest crimes in
the world's history have been committed in the name of
religion. Yet in spite of all this, it is largely to religion
that we owe our present high standing civilization. It is relig- i
on that has given us our loftiest thots, our standards of/
morals, our noblest ideals, our inspiration for a grander and
nobler life. The present spread of altruism is largely due
to Christianity. The Christian injunctions "bear one anoth-
er's burdens", "love thy neighbor as thyself", "do ye unto
others as ye would that others should do unto you" have
had their influence in developing and spreading this altru-
ism; in fact such a philosophy of life has been largely respon-
sible for the developing of the spirit of neighborliness. This
spirit is not confined to Christianity, but it is seen at its
highest development in that religion. It is an extension of
family feeling, the spread of sympathy, the desire not only
to relieve the sufferings of others but to prevent future misery
and distress. As we noticed in a previous chapter in taking

332 . INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

up the evolution of religion, we find that religion is con-
stantly growing loftier and higher in sentiment and more
useful to the world. While the arbitrary control of the church
is becoming less important, its influence is nevertheless felt
and will continue to be of importance in the future. The
control is changing from one of compulsion and force to one
of leadership and inspiration. The church of the future
instead of driving people will lead them. Instead of whip-
ping them into line by threats of hell-fire, eternal damnation,
and future torment it will lead by pointing the way to a
nobler life, to an altruistic instead of a selfish existence. It
will inspire people to do better rather than compel them to
do so thru fear.

Education. — Education controls mainly by its power over
the child. What the child is taught it will later believe.
The power of education in religion is perhaps the best
example we can find of this. The form of religion which
is taught in early life is the one which usually is followed
in later life. This fact is recognized by some churches,
particularly the Roman Catholics, which gives especial atten-
tion to the training of the children of its members according
to the teachings of that church and seeks to bring them into
the church early in life. The vast majority of church mem-
bers belong to the same denominations that their parents
belonged to.

Our ideas of right and wrong are governed largely by the
teaching we receive early in life. The importance in later
life of education in childhood is so great that many persons;
fearing that ideas to which they are exposed may be fixed,
object to religious education in the public schools. Educa-
tion not only fits for life, but the teachings can be so directed
as to fasten the attention of the child upon certain things
or to train him to reason along certain channels.

The power of education has been recognized by those in
authority, who for the purpose of perpetuating their hold,
often have kept education away from those under them. In
most slave countries education has been to a great extent for-
bidden the slaves so as to keep contented or at least recon-
ciled to their lot and to prevent their emergence from this
condition. This same policy was followed by the landlords
in regard to serfs. It was followed to a large extent in Russia
even until the recent revolution, for fear that the common

SOCIAL CONTROL 333

people would demand a greater share in the government.
This has always been true with the ruling class if the sub-
merged class was in the majority numerically. Education is
generally the key to success; it opens the door to opportunity.
It gives one the benefit of the experience of others; it not
only tells what has been done in the past, but suggests what
can be done in the future. It gives one the ability to grapple
with problems and to live a greater and more useful life.
The educated classes have furnished the world its greatest
rulers. Legislators, magistrates, and officials are nearly always
chosen from the educated classes merely because they are con-
sidered the most fitted for these positions. The superiority
of some races over others is largely a matter of accumulation
and diffusion of knowledge. The successful scattering and
assimilation of this information depends upon the effective-
ness of the educational system. We find among all savage
tribes systems of education, some of which are quite effec-
tive, while others are less so; the effectiveness of the system
and the usefulness of the education determine to a great
extent the position of the race in the scale of civilization.
The invention of the phonetic alphabet and the art of print-
ing have added wonderfully to the progress of education and
have increased tremendously the effectiveness of education
as a means of social control. We find that the wonderful
superiority of the Spartan as a fighting man was the direct
result of the rigor of the educational system which trained
him not only to fight, but to endure suffering and hardship,
withstand pain, and to be superior to all difficulties. The
education of the Athenian was the direct opposite — train-
ing in music, oratory, and gymnastics — and produced a race
of philosophers, artists, and statesmen. The educational sys-
tem of Rome produced its types in like manner, effecting the
Roman lawgiver, who made it possible for Rome to rule for
so long the vast territory which she conquered.

Education not only helps determine the government, laws,
and institutions of the people, but it affects their customs,
habits, and standards of living. With increased education
goes an advance in the standards of living, which adds to
the comforts of the home; it brings in books, magazines, and
papers; creates a demand for more and better furniture, food,
and clothes, larger and better houses; it affects the whole
family life, e^en to the regulation of the number of children.

334 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

An immediate result of increased education is a decrease in
the birth-rate, the family demanding more things for the
children and placing greater attention where it should be-
in the rearing and caring for smaller families rather than
bringing into the world large families for which the family
income is not sufficient. For the same reason the death-rate
is decreasing.

Education is no longer being looked upon as a convenience,
but as a necessity to society. The period of education is
constantly growing longer. Instead of a few days or weeks
spent in educating the youth, as is the time limit with the
savages, the period has stretched into months and years. More
subjects are put into the school curriculum and required of
the student. Schools are being made not only to preserve
the knowledge which has been already gained, but to prepare
for further advance in all lines. Education is even being
extended to adults; this phase is probably developed to a
greater extent in Denmark than in any other country, altho
the United States is rapidly taking up the idea, especially
in regard to agricultural education, and is extending this
thru correspondence and university extension courses.

The school has supplanted the church in many ways, espe-
cially in the training of the young and in acting as a social
center; in all probability it affects the community in a greater
manner; it at least reaches more people. Our early colleges
were founded, however, for the chief purpose of training min-
isterial students, tho this function has now grown to be of
minor importance in comparison with the other activities of
the American colleges and universities. The transfer of respon-
sibility for education may not necessarily be a sign of weak-
ness, for it may be only right for the church to surrender this
function as soon as the child became able to carry it on,
thus have more time for other fields of labor as yet not
covered, and so give itself a chance to be of greater use to
society. But we shall have to admit that as a force for
the control of society education has rapidly increased and
is constantly growing. We can welcome this change, for edu-
cation has brot about a higher standard of living; it has
enabled man to live in an orderly, scientific manner rather
than in a haphazard way; it points to still greater progress.

Custom and Habit. — Custom and habit as social forces
are not progressive like education, but regressive; they stand

SOCIAL CONTROL 335

in the way of any change or progress. They are reactionary,
conservatory forces, and while they often hold a healthy check
upon impulsive action, they in turn often hinder philanthropic
and altruistic endeavors, and thus check the advance of civil-
ization. The chief argument of custom is: This should be
done because it has always been done; it is the best because
it has always been so; it should be because it has always
been. Every change in educational methods, as well as the
addition of any new science, like sociology is opposed by
custom. Custom lifts its hands in holy horror at any change
in religious beliefs or any different interpretation put upon
the Bible than that which has been given it in the past.
New inventions in industry are looked at with askance till
competition or hard times compel the factory owner to seek
some new method. Home life every day gives illustrations
of this; methods of doing house work are much the same
today as they were a hundred years ago simply because of
this force which stands in the way of change. The greatest
obstacle which the woman suffrage and the feminist move-
ments have to face is custom, which has tried to settle for
eternity the position of woman in society. The writer well
remembers the refusal of the authorities of Harvard Univer-
sity to allow Mrs. Pankhurst to speak in one of the university
halls for the sole objection that no woman had ever spoken
in them.

The average person follows the multitude without thot.
A few see another and possibly a better way but follow the
old, because they know it is easier to go with the crowd even
if the way is round-about than it would be to go in opposi-
tion to custom and habit. Others, more hardy and fearless,
deliberate, see the advantage of the change, and take the
new way. Sometimes the new ways eventually win favor,
and sometimes they are defeated.

All institutions which have anything to do with control
change slowly, and the impetus comes from within rather
than from without. The burden of proof is always upon those
seeking the change, who must therefore show that the new
is superior to the old.

Art. — Art as a social force, while fully as apparent as
custom, is much more .difficult to classify. It is both pro-
gressive and reactionary. It may keep alive old sentiments
by use of hymns, patriotic songs and poems, ojf which the

336 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

Aeneid and the Iliad are good examples; or it may usher
in a new type, as is done thru the drama and thru new songs
and poems. Art may arouse the passions to outbursts of
enthusiasm, as may be produced by the playing of Dixie or
America. It may kindle sympathy for the lowly, such as
cannot be avoided in the reading of Grey's "Elegy", which
shows the life of the poor and gives the reader a picture of
the struggles, ambitions, and virtues of the life of the labor-
ing class. On the whole art creates enthusiasm in some
form or other. The illustrations always add to the selling
qualities of the book, and if they are good to the real help-
fulness of the work. Art attracts attention and appeals to
more people than education; music reaches both the educated
and the uneducated. In fact we recognize the influence of
art among all races of men, even finding in the caves of
Europe drawings dating back about one hundred thousand
years. We find among savages the influence of art, both
music and decoration, playing an important part in social
control. This influence has continued down to the present
day, only the form is changed. Art is often used to exploit
the sense of the sublime, as in the case of the Madonas, and
also the virtues, as in Spencer's "Faerie Queene". On the
other hand, art is used to make the vices attractive, taking
such forms as saloon decorations and suggestive pictures, many
of which often are works of art, or at least have some artistic
value. The nature of the control by art is varied; it may
be at one time subtle and delicate and at another forceful
and commanding. While at times employed in degrading
enterprises, as the saloon and the brothel, art is on the whole
uplifting and elevating; and it has been of great aid in the
advance of civilization.

Personality. — Control by personality has probably been
exaggerated by historians, altho from a sociological sense
this phase of control differs somewhat from the "great man"
theory of history. It means the influence of the individual
thru his personality over the mass or crowd. This influ-
ence may result from great size or striking features, by
wonderful energy or enthusiasm; or it may be caused
by some peculiarity which attracts attention. Illustrations
may be noted in the extraordinary size of Peter the Great,
the height and ugliness of Lincoln, and the sternness of
Cromwell. Military leaders are generally large men phys-

SOCIAL CONTROL 337

ically or else they have an unsual amount of dash and cour-
age, or a decidedly martial appearance. Politicians always
find that size is a great help; it adds dignity and commands
attention. Sometimes lack of size may be offset by great
energy or force, or by such peculiarities or idiosyncrasies
as the wearing of an excessive amount of gold lace or braid,
as in the case of Murat. To be a leader one must command
respect and to a certain extent produce a feeling of awe;
this is the reason why no great man is ever great to his valet,
his intimates, or his own relatives. For different walks in
life different qualities are needed; a banker must have a per-
sonality to insure confidence in his financial integrity; a
minister must be honored for his piety or devotion; a teacher
requires knowledge and an ability to impart it; a salesman
needs the ability to sell goods or to win the confidence of
his customer. The kind of personality. This is possibly
a reason why so often the leader in college makes a failure
in life; and why, on the contrary the student who goes thru
college without attracting attention often is the one who
wins the greatest success, because his personality is not the
kind to attract attention in the more or less artificial atmos-
phere of the college campus.

In natural societies personal control, or the wielding of
influence thru personality in some form, such as control by
means of the strong arm, was about all the kind there was.
At first the leaders were leaders because of their superiority.
When they tried to transmit this rule to their descendants,
thy established royal families and the rule of kings.

There have been leaders who lacked personality, making
up for its absence by mental shrewdness, cunning, or some
other characteristics. But they have been handicapped by
the lack. If one has an imposing personality, the chance
of succeeding in life is much greater than if one does not
have it.

On the whole, control by personality is difficult to analyze,
altho it is always apparent. Its force is probably weaken-
ing as our personal contact with others becomes less impor-
tant, as the readers of speeches far outnumber the hearers
of them, as the ability to write overshadows the ability to
speak, and as control by law is supplanting control by force.

Ceremony. — The chief function of ceremony is to attract
attention, to impress those around with the importance of

338 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

the occasion. The wearing of caps and gowns is to call
attention to the importance of the wearers and to create
due respect for them. The wearing of robes and wigs in
courts, together with the ceremonies of opening court, etc.,
has the same purpose. Initiation ceremonies to fraternal
orders and college fraternities are to impress the novice
with the importance of the step that he is taking. 1'he
marriage ceremony is to call attention to the seriousness of
the vows and the change involved in the new relation. Cere-
monies often lend an air of mystery, even deceiving at times;
but this effect is growing less, altho at one time it figured
prominently. However, the control is no less effective if
the onlooker or novice thoroly knows the meaning of the
ceremony; in fact the result is often more permanent, for
the knowledge of meaning calls attention to the act and
causes the participant to think. If an institution is neces-
sary to society, ceremony performs a useful function by call-
ing attention to it in this manner and by thus helping to
keep alive that institution. On the other hand, if the insti-
tution has been outgrown, ceremony may injure by wasting
time and means. On the whole ceremony is a minor form
of social control.

Other Means oj Control. — There are other means of
control which might be mentioned, such as duty, allusion,
social valuations, etc. Illusion controls largely by appeal-
ing to the imagination, by reference to some established idea
or custom, or by the appeal to do the conventional thing,
such as the propriety of going to Sunday School and the inad-
visability of going skating or fishing on the Sabbath. An
appeal to solidarity, as standing by the party and voting
the ticket straight, is often quite effective. This appeal fre-
quently breaks down, especially if the interest of the mass
precludes our own selfish interest; an example is the evading
of our own personal taxes' even tho if we know that thereby
we make taxes in general higher, for we are interested in
our own taxes much more than in the taxes of the community.
We are, however, not only willing but even eager that others
shall conform, obey laws, and work for the interest of all;
but when it applies to us, the shoe fits too snugly and we
are willing to slip if off for an easier fitting one. We are
always glad to suggest to our neighbors what they ought to
do, but only a few of us are willing to follow the path which

SOCIAL CONTROL 339

duty points out. Yet this spirit of duty and of allusion
to a higher mode of living has its effect upon human action;
it is reflected in our laws, customs, and habits and has a ben-
eficient effect upon civilization. One of the means of con-
trol used by the clergy in all lands is thu allusion to a future
world. Yet this control is probably growing weaker and is
giving way to control by conscience and sympathy, or altru-
ism. In other words, people are reasoning things out more
for themselves than they formerly did; they are following
more the dictates of their own intellects and consciences and
relying less upon the suggestions and allusions of others.
Education is constantly supplanting these forms of control,
because it is better able to serve society.

General Characteristics of Social Control. — Social con-
trol generally takes in some way or other, the form of class
control. Laws were at first simply the arbitrary commands
of those in power; then rulers laid down rules to suit their
own convenience. Later the recognition of the rights of
the governed class came into vogue, altho those in power
shaped the laws, consciously or unconsciously, in their own
favor. The American Constitution, fine document that it
is, was made by the capitalist class, working undoubtedly,
however, for the best interests of the country at large; yet
it overemphasized the individualistic point of view and has
been a hindrance to many reforms. The world has proba-
bly never received such a worthy document from a class
so decidedly in the majority. The laws laid down in England
by the Normans were in favor of the Normans, at first almost
exclusively ; later after intermarriage took place and the Anglo-
Saxons were recognized as deserving recognition, the laws
favored them more. Each religious denomination or class,
when in power, governs for its own benefit. The nobility
in feudal times ruled in the interests of the nobility. In
Rome the patricians ruled for the patricians, and in Greece
the citizens paid little consideration to those who were not
citizens. In fact social control has taken the form of class
control in some way or other almost universally; even control
by public opinion, the most general of all means of social
control, is the control on the part of those who express this
opinion, control by the majority or the minority who assert
themselves. We even find public opinion consciously fos-
tered and developed by a few who regulate it for their own

340 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

benefit as far as they are able. This is the method used
by the modern politician. The question to be considered
here is: If a class is superior, should it not control? In a
competitive society the lower class is usually the inefficient
one; that is the reason why it is the lower class. Now if
the upper class is the superior class, why should it not rule?
We might admit the validity of this argument, but remem-
ber that the rules should recognize the rights of the lower
classes. But as soon as this class ceases to be the superior
class, then the question comes up with equal force. Why
should it continue? Society generally answers that in the
negative by overthrowing the ruling class and setting up
another class which is superior. The present royal families
at one time or other in all probability represented the ablest
people in Europe, but they have long ceased to be the ablest;
yet custom, habit, and law, also public opinion in many coun-
tries, have kept them in power. They have been compelled,
however, to submit to public opinion and to allow their power
to be so curtailed that they have only the vestige of their
former authority. The final question arises: Should the edu-
cated, the efficient, or the strong rule?

As has been suggested, social control changes; no one
system remains in power forever. Neither does any system
have the same weight as time passes. As the needs of society
change we find that control changes accordingly. Ignorance
demands a different kind of control from that needed among
the educated; this is especially noticed in the methods used
by different religions, or in the same religion as the adher-
ents become more enlightened. Christianity controls in a
vastly different way from Judaism, from which it grew, and
the control in Christianity is itself constantly evolving. Con-
trol over the family is exercised in a different way from what
it once was by the churches, for churches even countenance
divorce, when formerly they condemned it, thus recognizing
the changing conditions in society. It is the same with
other means of control; laws are repealed and new ones
made because of new or different needs. Customs and habits
are outgrown and discarded and new ones formed. Methods
of education change. The education among the Athenians
consisted largely of music and philosophy. A hundred years
or so ago the classics were emphasized, later the natural sci-
ences, and now the tendency is along the line of the social

SOCIAL CONTROL 341

sciences, because of the recognition of different needs. Meth-
ods in education change: learning by rote gave way to a better
method, and every few years a new method gains prominence
and after proving its efficiency is recognized and adopted,
such as the Batavia and Gary plans. Conflicts of interests
in society bring about changes in the systems of control, the
old system being overthrown by the new. Inventions and
discoveries bring about changes in methods of control, as
illustrated by changes in methods of warfare. Recently the
submarine and airship have produced new problems. The
railway and automobile have brot in new habits, customs, and
laws. Inventions and discoveries are continually breaking
down old methods of control and instituting others.

A system of social control should exercise authority with
as little friction as possible; it should be scarcely felt and
should be pleasant rather than irksome. It should meet
with universal or nearly universal approval and should bene-
fit rather than injure. It is much easier to lead than it is
to drive; hence control should stir up as little resistance or
resentment as possible. Leaders can only mold public opin-
ion, religious ideas, and educational methods. To be effec-
tive they must be supported by the masses. When the opin-
ion of the mass is bad, when their sentiments are corrupting
or degrading and their information incorrect, the point of
view must be changed gradually and carefully before that
mass can be seriously affected. A sentiment must be created
in favor of a law before it can be successfully enforced. Con-
trol has existed thru fear and does so exist even to the
present day, but we find almost universally that that form
of control in the long run is inferior to a system of control
which exists because the people controlled want it, because
they recognize its value. Social control should not stifle indi-
vidual initiative, cripple individual effort, limit the selective
process, or prevent the struggle for existence. In short, it
should not interfere with those forces which have built up
society unless those forces are no longer useful and have
become destructive. In fact any system of social control
should be able to stand upon its own merits, exist because
it is advantageous, and cease to exist as soon as it fails to
perform its mission. We shall always need social control.
The aim should not be perfection, for that can never be
reached; it should be either to prevent retrogression or to

342 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

bring about improvement in society. The methods used will
in all probability be gentler and more congenial as we rise
in the scale of civilization and have less need of severe meas-
ures. Yet the control will always be there, at least until
society reaches a state of perfection, which is not likely, at
least for some time to come.

READING REFERENCES

Ross, EDWARD A., Social Control.

Ross, EDWARD A., Social Psychology.

ELLWOOD, CHARLES A., Introduction to Social Psychology, Chaps.

rv-viii.

ELLWOOD, CHARLES A., Sociology in Its Psychological Aspects, Chaps.

XII-XV.

BALDWIN, J. M., Social and Ethical Interpretations, Chap. XI.
BLACKMAR, F. W. AND GILLIN, J. L., Outlines oj Sociology, Part III.
LOWELL, A. LAWRENCE, Public Opinion and Popular Government.

CHAPTER XVIII
SOCIAL ORGANIZATION

We may now take up the study of the organization of
society which we were not ready to attempt at the beginning
of the book. Before we did this it was necessary to study
not only the forces of environment which affected the life
of man but also man himself. We had to study human pop-
ulation, how man spread out and increased in number. We
had to consider the formation and development of human
institutions before we were prepared to study the structure
of society itself.

There have been many attempts to classify societies and
to analyze social order and human association; in fact dozens
of sociologists have tried it, each one working out a different
method. Professor Giddings outlines eight different kinds
of societies, according to the social bond which holds them
together. Simmel works out an elaborate system of social
organization, and even deserts the science of sociology, think-
ing that he has settled all the questions of that science. Pro-
fessor Giddings has developed an exceedingly elaborate sys-
tem of social organization, using consciousness of kind and
concerted volition as the welding elements. Other sociolo-
gists, like Small, Tarde, Ratzenhoffer, Gumplowicz, Durkheim,
and De Greef, have also formulated systems of human asso-
ciation. All of these are interesting and instructive, but each
of them is more or less incomplete. Society is too compli-
cated and intricate to be thus easily classified. The social
process cannot be reduced to a single theory, or set of theories.
We shall make no such attempt but only try to suggest some
of the means of social organization.

Society consists of a vast number of individuals, who live
in groups, each person being a member of many groups at
the same time. Each individual, as a rule, is a member of
a family ; of a local community, /'. e., a city, town, or county ;
of a larger community — the state and nation ; and then of
a still more expanded group — humanity itself. These groups

343

344 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

form a system of concentric circles, each larger one containing
the smaller ones. In addition each person is a member of a
number of other groups, which are not so symmetrical and
regular, but which continually overlap, and form and reform.
Each of these groups affects the person, and the person in
turn affects each group and all the other persons in those
groups.

The social life, or human association, is a process of living
together, the constant meeting of individuals under different
conditions and associations. People work together, play
together, pursue different interests or the same interests side
by side or in widely different places and conditions. Some
men are striving for wealth, others for fame and reputation,
by winning cases in court, writing works of fiction, making
discoveries in science, digging canals, building sky-scrapers,
making speeches, perfecting inventions, producing works of
art, or building up institutions or industries. Some are plod-
ding along, making a bare living by laboring hard in the mine
or rock, quarry, shoveling coal, digging ditches, tending a
machine, herding cattle, or working on a farm. Others are
making a more comfortable living by following some skilled
trade, such as brick laying, carpentering, blacksmithing,
plumbing, or plastering. Some employ and others are em-
ployed. To some, wages are the sign of success; to others
financial return is a mere incident, achievement and happi-
ness being placed above money. Politicians and statesmen
strive for power; business men and capitalists for control;
teachers and scientists for reputations, and ministers to build
up their parishes. Some are trying to elevate humanity thru
missionary work, social service, and relief work; while others
are preying upon society, getting all they can from her, as
illustrated not only by our criminal class but by grafters
in politics and unscrupulous business and professional men,
who look upon society in the light of how much can be
obtained from her. Some are pursuing callings useful to
society, while others are following occupations which are anti-
social or are living lives which are injurious to society. While
the vast bulk of the individuals are leading honest, indus-
trious lives, there are many who are merely parasites. Some
do work which is conspicuous, like that of the statesman
and industrial manager, while others do work no less impor-
tant but which is never noticed, such as the daily routine

SOCIAL ORGANIZATION 345

of the average housewife. Some are seeking recreation and
amusement, while others follow as a profession the amusing
of others. Some men are gifted by nature and others are
stunted. Some make good use of their opportunities, while
others throw away all their chances. Some are attractive
and congenial, while others are repulsive. Some are tall and
some short, some large, others small. Some are altruistic
and lofty-minded, while others are selfish and degraded.
Besides all have some good qualities and . some bad. All
too are subject to change, being selfish one minute and altru-
istic another, depending upon circumstances. Of such mate-
rial is society made, a vast mass of persons of all grades,
in all conditions of prosperity and happiness. Society might
be likened to a machine with many intricate parts, or perhaps
still better to a mammoth factory with thousands of compli-
cated and intricate machines, or perhaps still better to a vast
collection of such factories, with all their machinery, which
again is subdivided into parts. It would be impossible to
complete such an analogy, for we never could settle upon
the arrangement of the machines and their parts. As sug-
gested in our first chapter, the life of society is one mighty
system of co-operation, where each person, consciously or
unconsciously, does his or her part of the process. Man
cannot live unto himself; he is perforce a member of this
complicated system.

Society is a moral and intellectual organism, an organism
which is the result not of any definite form of compact or
agreement, but of progressive creation, a result which has
been achieved thru experiment, struggle, and the survival of
the fittest and best, not only of individuals but of ideas, ideals,
interests, and institutions. Individuals, groups, nations, and
races have carried on their work, done their part, and passed
away. This is all the result of a gradual process — a steady
addition and accumulation.

Communication. — The means by which achievements
have been preserved and handed down to later generations
has been chiefly that of communication — that is, the trans-
mission of thots, ideas, words, attitudes, expressions of the
face, etc. We communicate today by means of writing, print-
ing, telephone, telegraph, speech, wireless telegraph, railroad,
steamship, submarine, airship, and even signs and expressions
of the face. Thru communication man is able to come into
contact with others distant in space and time. He is able

346 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

to benefit from the thots and feelings of others. "A word
is a vehicle, a boat floating down from the past, laden with
the thot of men we never saw; and in coming to understand
it we enter not only into the minds of our contemporaries,
but into the general mind of humanity continuous thru time".1
When a person has a new thot he is able to write it down,
and not only recall it when needed but pass it on to others.
Before writing was invented the past had to be preserved by
means of oral tradition and memory, both uncertain methods;
and as a result much was lost. Not only has writing pre-
served the thot of the past, but it has made civilization more
rapid and history possible, for without writing no accurate
records of the past could be kept. The invention of printing,
and later that of the linotype, has made knowledge demo-
cratic by placing it within the reach of the common people,
whereas before education was expensive and within the reach
of only the wealthy. Books have brot to us the wisdom of
the past and have allowed the exceptional men, no matter
what their status, not only to lift themselves out of serfdom,
but also to aid and uplift society.

But before man had invented books, printing, alphabet,
or even speech, he communicated with his fellows by means
of gestures, sounds, and signs. This communication was crude
and difficult, yet by means of it he was able to advance and
to reach that stage where he could make some achievement
and by means of it progress more rapidly.

Art has been a means of communication, conveying thots,
ideas, and feeling by means of pictures, statues, mosaics,
friezes, and all forms of decoration. Music has perhaps to
a still greater degree conveyed feelings, emotion, thots, and
ideas. It has served as a means of progress as well as a
means of control. Both art and music help to hold people
together by imparting similar thots and feelings to the mass.

Modern means of communication are widely different from
and more complicated than former methods. The newspaper
brings to the doors of people of all classes and stations in
society the same or much the same information, giving a vast
fund of information of all sorts, on all kinds of topics, some-
times inaccurate and perverted, yet information just the same.
Modern communication by means of permanent record is
able to overcome time. Also by means of its speed it is

'Cooley, Charles H., "Social Organization", p. 69.

SOCIAL ORGANIZATION 347

able to overcome space; in fact modern news travels faster
than sunlight. The writer well remembers hearing thru the
columns of a newspaper sold on the streets of Chicago the
complete account of the Burns- Johnson prize fight six or seven
hours before the time scheduled for the fight to begin in Aus-
tralia, the news having been sent by cable and telegraph
faster than the rays of the sun travel. The invention of wire-
less telegraphy not only adds to the speed but aids in the
diffusion of knowledge. New, rapid methods of communica-
tion have made possible modern civilization; they have given
human nature the opportunity to expand and to express itself.
We can almost tell how advanced in the scale of civilization
a country is by the development of its means of communica-
tion: how many letters, papers, etc., are sent; books sold or
read; miles of railroads, trolleys, and street car systems pos-
sessed; and number of telegrams sent and of telephones
in use in proportion to the population, proper allowances
being made in all cases for difference in density of population
and natural features. That country in which the mass of the
population is uneducated and lacking in proper means of com-
munication is bound to be a backward country, and that
country where the mass of the population is educated and
able to communicate with each other with ease is certain
to be an advanced country. Easy communication not only
regulates the advance in knowledge but affects all the insti-
tutions; it determines the character of the government, the
nature of the religion, the progress of arts and letters, and
in fact all phases of the life of man. Communication is the
means of achieving progress, or rather of passing it on to
others. Man is continually imitating his fellows, but there
has to be communication before there can be imitation. A
person learns of a new invention — perhaps a means of doing
some piece of work — but there has to be communication
by means of seeing, hearing, or feeling before he can pur-
posely set about imitating or improving on the invention.
Communication depends of course upon innate faculties of
man, but it is the means of progress.

Thru communication customs and habits develop which
later control our actions. They develop much the same as
do the institutions in society — e.g., religion, law and gov-
ernment, education and the family. We take these customs
and habits in life much as a matter of course, little thinking
that by our adhering to them we are keeping them with us

348 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

and encouraging them, or by protesting against them and
refusing to observe them we are breaking them down. In
the same way each individual is working to keep up or break
down the various institutions in society. If he is religious
and supports religion, he helps keep it up; if he has nothing
to do with it, he helps to cause it to lose its control over
society. If he supports law and order, pays his taxes, and
votes on election day, he upholds law and government; but
if he looks upon laws as restrictions only to be evaded, fails
to vote on election day, and escapes taxation whenever possi-
ble, he tries to break down the authority of law. Whenever
he buys goods he contributes to th£ support of the industries
manufacturing and distributing those goods and helps to build
up the industries represented, whether they are monopolies or
small concerns. If he buys the product of sweated industry
or child labor, he helps to perpetuate those evils. So whether
consciously or unconsciously, each member of society is throw-
ing his influence towards the formation, development, or
destruction of the habits, customs, and institutions which
control society.

Society may be called the product of an economic, a relig-
ious, an ethical, a bological, psychological, or philosophical
process, for it is all of these rolled into one. All these fac-
tors are constantly at work in society. Each individual has
all these interests welded into his makeup and is working
for or against all these interests. Each person is influenced
by every other person with whom he or she comes into con-
tact, whether the contact be physical, mental, or emotional;
whether he sees the other person or reads one of his books;
whether he hears one of his ideas or is influenced by one of
his acts. That act may be by his presence at some appoint-
ment, his vote in a meeting of a board of directors thou-
sands of miles away, or his instructions to some employee,
working perhaps in another state, city, or continent. The
person affected may never ever hear of the vote or instruc-
tions, or for that matter he may not know that there ever
was such a person voting or giving instructions; yet he may
by that act be affected — may lose his position, his fortune,
or even his life. Because of such facts as these social organ-
ization is entirely too intricate and complicated to be explained
by any one theory or set of theories. Society is too complex
to admit of classification according to the different kinds
of societies, or to be explained by any one social bond, such

SOCIAL ORGANIZATION 349

as Professor Giddings has postulated. Society consists of
individuals living in groups and forming social classes in
which they are affected by interests and controlled by cus-
toms, baits, and institutions. It is with these things that
sociology should interest itself, rather than in an attempt
to catalogue and classify the various factors in society, no
matter how interesting such a study might be. So it is with
these interests, forces, and institutions that we have made
the chief object of our study.

Social Classes. — Society is also made up of social classes,
which are determined by lines that are more or less definitely
and sharply drawn and more or less rigidly enforced. In
some countries there are the regularly defined castes, as
in India. In others there are the different social classes, as
the nobility, the middle class, and the peasants or serfs, which
were found in France before the French Revolution, or in
Russia until the recent upheaval. In some countries individ-
uals may move from one class to another, while in others this
transfer has been strictly forbidden. In India such a move-
ment has been impossible, one never being permitted to
change his caste. In other countries, such as Russia before
the revolution social conditions make such a movement impos-
sible. Under feudalism the serfs went with the land in the
same manner as the buildings and improvements, and no oppor-
tunities were given the serfs to change their condition. Even
in countries with highly developed governments, where there
has been an advanced state of law and justice, like that
found in Rome when that country prided itself upon civil
justice and equality, social classes have been rigidly formed
and the lines cruelly drawn. While the citizen enjoyed cer-
tain rights and privileges, there was a vast slave population
which had no rights or privileges at all, the members of that
class being bot, sold, abused, wronged, beaten, tortured, and
even killed at the will or whim of their owners. Also all
citizens were not on an equal plane, for there were different
social strata; the wealthy, who were waited upon by their
slaves and who controlled the state; and the rabble at the
other end of the line, who were poor — so poor that they were
even fed, clothed, and amused at public expense. In early
Rome when luxury and vice were not so rampant and when
the sterner virtues were adhered to there were the social classes.
The patricians represented the wealthy and, unmindful of the
interests of the plebians, who were the poor or laboring

350 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

classes, managed with a high hand the affairs of the state,
till they were compelled by the plebians to grant greater privi-
leges to the lower class. The plebians became the common
soldiers, while the patricians furnished the officers and com-
manders. Even in democratic Greece, where the city state
reached its greatest development and where there was perhaps
the greatest liberty known in ancient times, there were social
classes. Citizenship was limited to the natives, foreigners
being excluded from all rights. Even this citizen-equality
was founded upon a condition of slavery, under which the
slave was devoid of all rights. Such lofty philosophers as
Plato argued that slavery was a natural condition, resting
upon the inequality of human nature. In early Egypt the
priests and rulers were exempt from all taxes and were given
all privileges, while the common people had no privileges
and were compelled to serve in the army when needed and
to pay all the taxes; furthermore they were not permitted
to raise themselves from their condition. These social strata
have resulted largely from conquests, tho to a large extent
they have been based upon the inequality of natural abilities.
But they have always existed, at least since history began.
While with primitive man inequality exists, it is generally
individual inequality, resulting from individual superiority,
either physical or mental. But as soon as social organiza-
tion is developed we find the rise of social classes; one class
takes more privileges than another and exempts itself from
certain unpleasant duties, particularly those involving physical
labor, and assuming pleasant duties, such as political leader-
ship; it administers the priestly duties, judges in times of dis-
putes, and in general manages affairs. As civilization advances
and life becomes more intricate, these different classes increase
in number and complexity; they are always present. Innu-
merable attempts have been made to break them down and
to form societies, in which there would be no classes and in
which all would be on the same plane. Communistic settle-
ments have been established, but sooner or later they have
lost their communistic principles or have broken up. Reform-
ers have stirred up antagonism to existing ruling classes and
have either been put down or have overthrown those ruling
classes; but even when the ruling classes have been destroyed,
sooner or later other classes rise up to take their place. It
seems to be impossible to prevent such classes; in fact there
is a great deal of truth in the argument that such divisions

SOCIAL ORGANIZATION 351

are necessary to society itself. The modern tendency is to
permit classes but to allow individuals to move from class
to class, provided they are capable of so doing, and to prevent
any one class from oppressing another for the purpose of
disturbing this freedom of movement. Social classes will
exist as long as there are differences in human nature and
inequalities of individuals. But this inequality does not
depend upon the class but upon the individual.

While in the United States class lines are less distinct than
in most countries, we have our social classes just the same.
Each locality has what it calls "society", more or less exclu-
sive. Lines are also drawn according to occupation, a person's
calling often either admitting or debarring him. We have
classes drawn upon lines of wealth or income; the ranks of
these groups are constantly shifting, according to economic
prosperity. Admission to the so-called "society" depends in
most cases upon one's financial rating or ability to spend.
Again we have our professional class or classes, including law-
yers, teachers, doctors, dentists, etc. Distinguished members
of these professions are admitted to and even sought by all
classes, yet the members of the professional classes associate
more or less together because of common interests and desires.
The skilled workers, such as carpenters, masons, bricklayers,
etc., herd together because of like interests, and they in turn
form what might be called a social class which considers itself
decidedly above the common laborers and yet in turn is
looked down upon — or at least have been in the past — by
the clerks, small traders, and salaried persons in industry
and commerce, even if the skilled mechanic earns double
their wage. These clerks and salesmen are, however, scorned
by the big business men: the manufacturers, capitalists, bank-
ers, brokers, and large merchants. While in the United States
none of these classes controls our government, at least not
directly, altho all do to some extent indirectly, (especially
the big business men) these class lines are manifest. While
individuals, by sheer force of will power and ability, are
often able to throw off the shackles of their classes and mount
to the class above them, or even to the top rounds — also
to fall from one class to another because of the lack of
ability — the classes themselves do not rise, their members
as a whole remaining together. These classes are often
arrayed against each other and at all times manifest class
feeling and sympathy. Many attempts are made to arrange

352 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

the social classes upon a scale of rank, such as the "upper",
"middle", and "lower" classes; but such classifications are
always inadequate and are often further subdivided into such
orders as "upper middle" and "lower middle" classes. But
the mass is in a constant ferment, and any such classifica-
tion is extremely hard to make and when once made soon
becomes antiquated. These social classes are of course the
results of social interests and rise or fall in prominence with
the changing importance of those interests. When the mili-
tary interests are paramount, the military class forms a high
social class; and when economic interests are of chief impor-
tance, wealth is an important determiner of social classes,
and so on with the various classes; the position of the class
resting to a large extent upon the importance of the interest
represented.

The validity of social classes is often assailed and as often
defended. Frequently classes are based upon conditions which
have passed and upon needs which no longer exist; but on the
other hand it is the method society uses of putting impor-
tance upon functions which it needs and considers valuable.
The condition often brings injurious results to society — for
instance, it is detrimental to society to have a slave class
which has no privileges, or a working class which has at best
only a chance to make a bare living and which is constantly
on the verge of distress. It is bad to have one class live in
luxury and another in wretchedness. Yet on the other hand,
if one class produces more and is thus more valuable to
society, it is only right that it should receive greater reward
and be given a higher social position. While it is undeniably
bad for society to have a condition where it is impossble
for the individual to rise out of a lower class and enter into
a higher one, it is only right and just that the individual who
accomplishes more and is more valuable to society than
another shall receive more both of world's goods and of social
prestige. \Vhile hard and fast social classes are undoubtedly
bad and while more or less injustice is bound to occur, this
is society's method of rewarding service. As we discovered
in the last chapter, social control is carried out by means of
class control. In the same way social valuation is manifested
by means of social classes.

Aim and Purpose of Society. — The aim of society is
to promote social well-being; when it comes, however, to
defining just what is meant by social well-being, there is

SOCIAL ORGANIZATION 353

often a great difference of opinion. Tho the aim must be the
greatest good to the greatest number of persons, what may
be for the greatest good on one ocasion may not be for the
greatest good in society at all at another. At one time pro-
tection and safety may be the greatest need, at another time
invention and discovery, at still another industrial and com-
mercial development, at a still further time progress in litera-
ture, science, and education. The procuring of food may be
all important at one period, at another the solving of some
other problem, like the expansion of territory or the develop-
ment of patriotism, may be most pressing.

Society must strive for the realization of the powers of self-
development of the individual, but an ideally perfect society
is of greater importance than the perfect individual, could
either be imagined. An ideal society is not a society where
one individual is sacrificed for another, where one class is
highly developed and another is held down in bondage.
Society must not be content with resting upon its past achieve-
ments, as has been the case in China, but must be constantly
struggling to advance. Social perfection can never be
achieved; yet society must never stop but keep on achiev-
ing; in fact constant progress is the law of life to society.
Society must continue to create more perfect adjustments
among its members. It must enable each person to fit into
the social fabric in a more perfect and useful manner. This
does not mean necessarily personal equality, because individ-
uals do not have equal abilities and powers; it does mean
equality of opportunity. Society is steadily striving, or should
be striving, to give each person the opportunity to do his
best and to contribute the most to the world; in other words
it is attempting to function in the best possible manner.

Society must strive continuously to produce better forms
of government — governments which will serve society in the
best possible manner. Just now the tendency is towards
democratic and socialistic forms of government, or those
which allow the greatest amount of liberty and equality of
opportunity. The aim of society is to develop the individual
so that he can govern himself and to make the forces of
control less irksome, to make his reactions involuntary. In
religion the tendency is to allow greater freedom and the
privilege to worship as one sees fit and to enable each person
to work out his own beliefs, rather than have another's theol-

(K)

354 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OP SOCIOLOGY

ogy forced upon him; this means greater democracy in relig-
ion. Another aim is more enlightened public opinion, so
that its control will be more useful. Loftier ideas of morals,
higher ethical codes, and more useful customs and habits are
also phases of the purposes of society. Greater justice between
individual and individual must also be achieved. Philoso-
phers at various times, from Plato down, have worked out
Utopias and ideal forms ^of society, but the most of these
schemes seem only ridiculous to us simply because we have
passed on to conditions of society far in advance of any of
the conceptions of these philosophers. Reformers have tried
in vain to establish model communities based upon some
ethical or Utopian principles or theories, after the order of
the Oneida Community or Brook Farm, but these have all
failed; yet at the same time society on the whole has been
steadily advancing. Progress is constant and purposeful, not
accidental; and while there are frequent lapses and constant
reversions, society is steadily progressing.

Social Maladjustment. — We have been studying the
interests and organization of society, considering in general
its achievements, its progress, and its success. But society
is not always successful in its attempts; it sometimes fails.
Instead of happiness, sorrow and misery are often found.
Instead of plenty and comfort, which are constantly being
made more possible with the increase of inventions and the
development of industry, we often find want and even star-
vation; and instead of better houses and clothes, we again
find rags and lack of shelter. Instead of fewer hours of labor,
which is the general tendency, we often find work beyond
endurance and absence of periods of rest, relaxation, and recre-
ation. Instead of higher codes of conduct, which are in gen-
eral steadily being achieved, we still find crime, vice, intem-
perance, and lack of control. These are all due to malad-
justments of some kind, sometimes caused by society itself
and sometimes existing in spite of all the efforts of society
to eradicate them. It is to this part of sociology that we
now turn, taking up the leading forms of maladjustment:
poverty, crime, immorality, and defectiveness. It is this form
of sociology which is often given chief prominence, in much
the same way that sickness attracts more attention than
health, even tho health is the general rule and illness the
exception. Also these phases attract because of the need

SOCIAL ORGANIZATION 355

of attention and of efforts to correct them, whereas the nat-
ural organization of society is overlooked, because it is thot
to need no attention. Social maladjustment is only one phase
— and an unnatural phase at that — of society, and there-
fore it is only one branch of sociology.

READING REFERENCES

COOLEY, CHARLES H., Social Organization.

COOLEY, CHARLES H., The Social Process.

BLACKMAR, F. W. AND GILLIN, J. L., Outlines of Sociology, Part IV.

GIDDINGS, F. H., Principles of Sociology, Book II.

GIDDINGS, F. H., American Journal of Sociology, Vol. X, pp. 1-176.

GIDDINGS, F. H., Elements of Sociology.

ELLWOOD, CHARLES A., Sociology in Its Psychological Aspects, Chaps.

XVI-XIX.

WALLAS, GRAHAM, The Great Society, Part II.
HAYES, E. C.r Introduction to the Study of Sociology, Part II.
ELLWOOD, CHARLES A., Introduction to Social Psychology, Chap. XII.
ELLWOOD, CHARLES A., The Social Problem.
CROZIER, J. B., Civilization and Progress.
BALDWIN, J. M., Social and Ethical Interpretations, Part VI.
WARD, L. F., Applied Sociology, Parts II and III.
WEEKS, ARLAND D., The Mind of the Citizen.
Ross, EDWARD A., Class and Caste, American Journal of Sociology, Vol.

XXII.
Ross, EDWARD A., Principles of Sociology, especially Parts III, IV, and V.

PART FIVE
SOCIAL MALADJUSTMENT

357

CHAPTER XIX
POVERTY

Poverty a Condition of Maladjustment. — The most of
the problems of society are the results of maladjustment, the
most striking illustration being, in all likelihood, the problem of
poverty. As a matter of fact there is enuf economic wealth in
the world to relieve all the existing poverty. Indeed at the very
times in the history of the world when the conditions of poverty
have been the worst (with the exception of times of famine
and disaster) fortunes and landed estates have generally
been the most wonderfully developed. When the provinces of
Rome were empoverished in order to pay taxes, wealth was
pouring into Rome, fortunes were being piled up, extrava-
gance reigned supreme, and riot and waste were the order
of the day. In France before the French Revolution, when
the peasants were ground down into the dust and were in
desperate economic condition, the lords and nobles were living
in idleness and riotous extravagance. At the time of the
industrial revolution in England, when there was so much
misery and poverty and when thousands were starving, for-
tunes were being amassed by the owners of the mills. In
India, where there is so much wretchedness and misery and
where almost the entire population is living on the poverty
line — to such an extent that when a crop fails thousands
upon thousands die of starvation — the princes and native
aristocracy have fabulous fortunes stored away. The same is
true of China, as it has been of all countries both past and
persent; where we find great wealth we generally find simul-
taneously great misery. When in our own South the large
estates were being accumulated, they were so acquired at
the expense of slave labor, and the poorer whites were forced
back into the sandy, unproductive foot-hills. In all our great
cities where wealth is piled up, there we find the greatest
poverty; the larger the city and the greater the wealth, the
worse the poverty. One only has to turn to the works of

359

360 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

Jacob A. Riis, to Jack London's "People oj the Abyss", and
Booth's "Life and Labors of the People oj London" to see
the proof of this. Again in the works of Dickens and Victor
Hugo we see woeful pictures of the past.

Every now and then we hear of overproduction of a certain
commodity, such as shoes, cotton goods, woolen goods, furni-
ture and the like. Men are then thrown out of employment
and thus demand is still further curtailed. At the same time
that this so-called overproduction occurs there are thousands
of people who are in need of these very commodities; men
are in need of shirts when there is an overproduction of cot-
ton; children go barefooted when there is an oversupply of
shoes; men and women are in need of warm clothing when
woolen goods are a drag on the market. At the same time
these people are out of work and cannot earn the needed
articles, or are working hard and yet cannot earn enuf to
buy them. When some are starving, others are wasting food.
When some have not a dime for food, others spend five or
ten dollars for a dinner, then tip the waiter another dollar
for bringing them a meal at that price. But if fortunes
were leveled, it would of course be only a question of time
until the same condition existed again. But still if our eco-
nomic machinery worked as it should, there would be oppor-
tunity for all to make a living; dirp poverty would be rare.
Some people would make more than others because they are
worth more. But our industrial system should so work that
it might be possible for every able-bodied person of normal
intelligence not only to make a decent living for himself,
but to support a family of average size, so as to bring into
the world another generation to take his place. Nearly
always when men are out of work there is work which needs
to be done and commodities which are needed to be produced.
Really constructive efforts to solve the problem of poverty
must take this condition of maladjustment into consideration
and try to remedy the economic situation rather than merely
relieve the distress and misery.

What Is Poverty? — Now the question presents itself as
to what poverty really is. When is a person poor? After
all, poverty is largely a state of mind. A Kentucky moun-
taineer may be considered rich if he owns one cow and a
three-room cabin; a negro may feel rich if he has "four
bits" in his pocket; and at the same time a capitalist may

POVERTY A CONDITION OP1 MALADJUSTMENT 361

commit suicide when reduced to his last million, for fear
of the disgrace of becoming poor. An Italian peasant return-
ing to his native land with five hundred dollars in his pocket
is considered wealthy, while a count with large estates may
be considered poor if he does not have enuf money to keep
up these same estates. We, however, generally regard people
as poor when they lack the common necessities of life, such
as proper food, adequate clothing and shelter, and a hope of
maintaining these in the future with some degree of cer-
tainty. We shall in this book consider as poor such persons.

A pauper is one who receives aid from the state in some
legal form or other. A person does not have to be a pauper
to be poor, and unfortunately he does not always have to be
poor to be a pauper. One may be in dire poverty and still
be independent, and one may be rich and a pauper. Every
once in a while one hears of a person's dying in an almshouse
leaving behind him a fortune which nobody dreamed the
person possessed. Thousands of dollars have been found in
the possession of people in almshouses or of persons helped
by the town.

Poverty depends to a great extent upon the standard of
living. What might be considered poverty in the United
States might be looked upon as affluence in India, China, or
Syria. Standards of comfort differ. We in the United States
regard the education of children as absolutely necessary, while
in China or India »such education might be considered a
luxury and to be expected only of the wealthy. We consider
three meals a day essential; other people might get along
on less; while in Scandinavia and Germany at least four and
sometimes as many as six or seven have been considered
necessary. We consider separation of the sexes in a dwell-
ing requisite; such is not the case in some places. In some
countries children are expected to help support the family.
We object to such a condition and demand that it be made
unnecessary. So poverty depends largely upon custom and
habit.

Poverty is not necessarily a lack of commodities. The
Georgia "Cracker" is not an object for charity. What he
needs is not help but a change of ideas. The Kentucky moun-
taineer or the negro does not realize that he is poor. Such
people have to be brought to a realization of their condition
before they can be made enthusiastic over changing or reme-

362 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

dying it. On the other hand we find people denying them-
selves physical needs in order to supply mental ones. We
see students working their way thru college, even at times
going without proper food or suitable clothing. We see par-
ents sacrificing in order to send their children to school. We
see people going hungry that they may give money to the
church, especially Roman Catholics. Religion and custom
often dictate wants. We see immigrants and negroes spend-
ing all they possess or can rake together on a funeral in order
that the deceased may have as imposing a funeral as some
one else. The same thing is done with weddings, the future
being mortgaged for years to come to pay the expenses. We
find girls wearing thin clothing in winter altho they may
have thick suits which are out of style. We find people going
without proper food in order to dress stylishly. In fact we
see many wants which are foolishly placed in front of the
real necessities of life. Again we find some who deny them-
selves for others. So poverty is often the result of foolish-
ness and again the result of altruism.

But society is continually advancing and standards are
constantly growing higher. With these advances there is
an increase in demands. This makes the strain greater and
the danger larger. Also the poverty line is thus drawn higher
than previously and, while wealth and prosperity may increase,
the danger of becoming poor may be as great as ever — in
fact may even increase. We generally. rank as poor those
who are unable to maintain the minimum standard of living
as set by the customs of the day.

Extent of Poverty. — Poverty has always existed and
doubtless always will exist; the only difference is a matter
of degree. We find poverty in all countries, among all classes
and all stages of civilization. There was poverty in early
Egypt, Ancient Babylonia, Assyria, and Persia. There was
poverty in Judea at the time of Christ. Mohammed tells
of poverty. There is poverty among savages, people being
considered poor according to their own standards. The Aus-
tralian aborigines are miserably poor, having great difficulty
in providing themselves with food, altho among them cloth-
ing and shelter are considered hardly necessary. Dire pov-
erty exists today in China, where life is one terrible struggle
for existence among the masses; also in India, where a crop
failure means death to hundreds of thousands. In our study

POVERTY A CONDITION OF MALADJUSTMENT 363

of immigration we found that poverty not only held the Ital-
ians and Slavs down in a stage of misery and distress but
even kept them from rising to a higher stage of civilization,
and has thus caused them to a great extent to become degen-
erate and, as we consider, dangerous to our civilization. But
poverty as a great overwhelming problem is not confined to
the past or to countries that are below us in civilization. It
is present today in the most civilized of nations. It is not
confined to a few unfortunate but grips a large percentage
of the population. Booth estimated that 30 per cent of
the people in London were in poverty, and yet he drew an
exceedingly low line for poverty. Rowntree after an investi-
gation made in York in 1899 finally concluded that 27.84
per cent of the population of York below the servant keeping
class were in poverty — that is, were "living in a state of
poverty (total earnings insufficient to supply adequate food,
clothing, and shelter for the maintenance of physical effi-
ciency) or so near to that state that they are liable to sink
into it at any moment". Hunter1 asserts that in 1903 20
per cent of the people in Boston were in distress, as were
also 19 per cent of the people in New York state in 1897;
18 per cent of those in New York city were in the same con-
dition. He also estimated that in 1903 14 per cent of the
families in Manhattan were evicted every year for non-pay-
ment of rent and that about 10 per cent of those who die
in Manhattan have pauper burials. In conclusion he con-
servatively estimated that not less than 14 per cent of the
people in prosperous years and not less than 20 per cent in
bad times are in distress. Of course this does not mean that
that many people receive charity. In fact in 1910 only about
700,000 dependants, or less than one per cent, were inmates
in charitable institutions in the United States. With the addi-
tion of those who receive public help outside of institutions
and those in receipt of private charity this per cent is increased
to about five, which is the general estimate given for the
recipients of charity in the United States in a single year.
The ratio is much larger in our great cities, being about 10
per cent in New York City. When we take into account
the vast numbers who apply for aid and never receive it or
who do not apply, we see that Hunter's estimate is not far
wrong — in fact it is perhaps conservative. This means not

'Hunter, Robert, "Poverty", pp. 20-27.

364 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

that this number of people are in continual need, but that
they are in distress during at least part of the year. Distress
is largely seasonal ; it is much greater in winter than in summer
because of the greater demands caused by the season, for
greater outlay is necessary for fuel, clothing, and food, work
is less abundant, and of course the struggle to make both ends
meet becomes keener. The average family can keep going
during the greater part of the year, but it lives so near to
the poverty line that any sudden disaster like unemploy-
ment— even if temporary — accident, or sickness quickly
forces it below the line.

Causes of Poverty. — As previously stated, poverty is
caused largely by maladjustment of society, and the causes
lie more beyond the control of the individual than within
his power. While it is very difficult to trace the specific
causes of poverty, the following classification will help some-
what to clear up the difficulty.

I. Objective Causes. — Those due to environment and to
conditions lying outside of the individual, and to a great extent
beyond his control, altho not wholly so. These constitute
from 60 to 75 per cent of the causes of poverty.

1. Insufficient Natural Resources. — This includes poor
soil, lack of rainfall, too cold a climate, or the inability of
nature to yield to man a living. Such countries as Tibet, Scot-
land, Arabia, Labrador, northern Siberia, and the Sahara desert
are regions which would fall under this category. Many parts
of the United States yield a poor return to man, as illustrated
by sections like the hilly districts of New England and the
Carolinas, Arizona, and Nevada. Man is conquering many
of these difficulties; he is supplying the lack of rainfall in
many places by irrigation. Also systems of dry farming make
it possible to raise crops with a small amount of moisture.
By choice of grains regions far to the north are made produc-
tive, such as Saskatchewan, Alberta, and British Columbia.
This cause of poverty the ingenuity of man is continually
conquering, either by compelling nature to produce almost
against its will or by changing industry, like the supplanting
of agriculture in New England by manufacturing and com-
merce.

2. Bad or Unhealthful Climatic Conditions. — This is
illustrated by regions which are subject to diseases like malaria,
yellow fever, cholera, hook-worm, and sleeping sickness. Such

POVERTY A CONDITION OF MALADJUSTMENT 365

regions as Panama, Cuba, the country near the Mississippi
river, and the valley of the Amazon are examples of this.
Science is slowly but surely conquering these diseases, they
are becoming less dreaded, and many of these regions are
made healthful, Cuba and Panama being examples.

3. Defective Government. — Turkey has probably fur-
nished us with as good an illustration of this as any other
country, for the government there has been little better than
a system of legal brigandage. The rule of all ancient nations,
particularly Egypt, Babylon, Assyria, Persia, and Rome, in
which the provinces were looked upon merely as suitable
objects of plunder, are further examples of this. Bad systems
of land tenure, as are found in England, Italy, Austria, and
formerly in most countries of Europe, come under this head-
ing. Governments that neglect sanitary precautions, notice-
ably Turkey, Italy, and most of the Slavic countries, also
included. Cities which allow in their political management

— and the majority of the large American cities come in
here — contribute to poverty. Also legislative bodies which
draft tariff schedules which put duties upon the necessities
of life, like sugar, salt, wheat, and all articles needed by the
poor; unwise taxation, as illustrated by the general property
tax in the United States; and in fact all greed, avarice, and
ignorance in government are strong factors. These conditions
are slowly being remedied. Defective land tenures are being
abolished. Better systems of taxation, particularly inheri-
tance and income taxes, are supplanting the general property
tax in most countries. Graft is being eliminated in our cities,
altho it grips the governments in many nations, notoriously
those of Turkey, China, and Japan.

4. Bad Industrial Organization. — (1) Unemploy-
ment. — This lies at the root of most of our social problems;
for society is built upon labor and lays responsibilities upon
man which can be met only with the rewards from labor.
In other words we value things in terms of money, and when
the power to earn this money is cut off our system breaks
down. It was the old idea that anyone could obtain work
who wanted it. Modern conditions have delegated this idea
to the scrap-heap. One-third of the cases which came before
the American charitable oragnizations before the war were due
to unemployment. Thousands were unable to obtain work
every year, altho they were not only willing to work but often

366 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF1 SOCIOLOGY

were capable and efficient workers. The supply of labor is
comparatively fixed, but the demand for it fluctuates. The
demand for labor results from the demand for commodities,
which in turn rests upon income, which again depends upon
labor. The process is an endless chain and a break in any
link breaks the combination. Any uncertainty, lack of con-
fidence, or the failure of a large concern, as well as any great
calamity, throws the whole system out of gear. Unemploy-
ment is an evidence of maladjustment. Often it is merely a
matter of poor distribution, and the men who are out of work
in Chicago may be needed in New Orleans or in the lumber
camps of the north. Yet there are seasons when work is
scarce; there are slack months in every industry, such as the
winter months on the farm, in the stock-yards, in railway
construction, and in any line of work which is affected by the
cold weather. The same is true with skilled labor; brick-
layers, masons, and carpenters are out of employment more
or less during the winter months. Some occupations are alto-
gether seasonable, such as dressmaking, cotton picking, berry
picking, harvesting, and any occupations which supply a
demand, that lasts but a short time. In 1895 the Massa-
chusettes Bureau of Labor, after a careful investigation,
found that of the 816,470 persons engaged in gainful occu-
pations 241,589 were in idleness for at least a portion of
the year. The whole time lost was 82,744 years. Some
of these people had subsidiary work, which kept them busy
a part of the time thus lost; but making deductions for this,
the time lost amounted to 78,717 years, or an average per
person of 1.16 months a year. Yet there is no limit to the
production of goods, provided the right kind of goods are pro-
duced. It is not, therefore, altogether a matter of overpop-
ulation or top much labor, but of maladjustment of the labor
to the work.

Yet all unemployed are not employable. It is noticed that
the ones who are first thrown out of work are the last taken
on again, and that it is the same group, which is out of work
each year. As a rule, the least efficient of those employed
are more efficient than the most efficient who are out of
work. They are unemployed because they are inefficient, and
are at the same time inefficient because unemployed. Poor
wages mean insufficient food, clothes, and shelter, and so less
vital energy. Also idleness brings about bad habits, such as

POVERTY A CONDITION OF MALADJUSTMENT 367

laziness, drinking, and gambling, and these in turn reduce
one's efficiency. The whole problem is cumulative; the idler
the individual is, the more inefficient he becomes, and the
more inefficient, the idler. The bums in our large cities
were once mostly capable and willing to work, but few of
them now care for a steady job, for they have been out of
work too long and have become really unemployable. As
the demand for labor increases, the more efficient of the unem-
ployed obtain work, and the most efficient laborers are busy
most of the time.

Standards of efficiency have risen in late years and it is
becoming harder to keep the pace. Machinery has displaced
much unskilled labor and intelligence and adaptability are
in demand. Yet large industries like to have extra men to
draw from in time of greater need, instead of keeping a
smaller number busy all the time. This has been the policy
of the stockyards, which have tried to keep a line of appli-
cants before their doors every morning. Whenever the line
began to thin out, they made efforts to increase it, even to
the extent of encouraging immigration. This method has
been practiced by the steel mills, mines, and large factories.

Many unemployed are also unemployable because they
are shiftless, unreliable, criminal, and physically or mentally
defective, even when not unemployable as a result of our
industrial condition. Many do not want work,, but merely
make the search for it an excuse, the professional tramp com-
ing under this class. Altho this situation complicates the
problem of unemployment it does not make the solution less
imperative.

While unemployment is more common among union men
than among non-union men, it is less destructive and so of
less importance, for the union man is better able to bridge
over the slack period. His wages are better when he is at
work, and he is better organized and so has greater resources.
Unions have unemployment, sickness, and accident benefits.
The union man's bargaining power, thru collective bargain-
ing, is greater, and so he is able to hold out for a higher wage.

Of the different classes of unemployed the following may
be given among the leading ones:

(a). Those, who being engaged for short periods only,
have finished one job and have not started on another; such
are those dependent upon common labor. This unemploy-

368 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

ment is generally only temporary and may be classed as
leakage.

(b). Those who belong to trades, like bricklaying, in
which the volume of work fluctuates because of seasonable
changes.

(c). Members of an occupation or trade in which there
is an over-supply or members of a group for all of whom,
there is not work enuf. Trade unions try to prevent this
by limiting the number of apprentices.

(d). Those who because of their inefficiency cannot obtain
employment, perhaps because of being in the wrong trade or
having made a wrong choice.

While potentially efficient, their occasional unemployment
becomes chronic, members of any of these groups may become
permanently unemployable.

The question presents itself, what can we do to solve or
alleviate this condition? Indescriminate giving not only does
not remedy the situation, but increases it, demoralizes indus-
try more than ever. To find work is difficult if the condition
is extended thruout numbers of people. Work may be found
in the small place for the occasional person who is out of
work and in need, but it is almost impossible to find work
for thousands in a large city. Besides, the work should be
productive and continuous. If work is provided by a city
simply to give employment, very little is accomplished except
to spend money, unless some well planned work is under-
taken. Some relief may be given at times by starting work
which has been already planned and needed, such as build-
ing a subway or digging a sewer. Commissioner Bell of New
York introduced and put into operation a plan to give the
news-stand licenses to the crippled, to the blind, to those who
have lost limbs, and in fact to those who were unable to
compete in the battle of life. The plan did not mean the
crowding out of the present holders of the licenses, but the
giving of preference in the future to the crippled and maimed
in the issuing of new licenses when the old ones were given
up and when new stands were opened. Some of the holders
caught the spirit and surrendered their licenses. This method
was expected to provide for about 12,000 otherwise unemploy-
able. The labor agencies deal with this problem not in
a way of solving it, but in order to profit by it. In Europe
the majority of cities have municipal agencies which are
generally united, being especially so in Germany before the

POVERTY A CONDITION OF MALADJUSTMENT 369

war, and which have dealt with this problem in a marvel-
ously efficient manner. This has not been tried to a very
great extent in the United States except during the war.
Before this a number of cities had instituted municipal labor
exchanges but the most of these failed because of poor man-
agement, the managers being chosen for political reasons.
The national system of labor exchanges, while inefficient in
places, did a wonderful work and was discontinued because
of the failure of Congress to make the necessary appropria-
tion to keep them up, that body not recognizing that a great
constructive work had been begun, thinking instead that it
was merely a war measure. Insurance that is met by
employer, employee, and the state combined is the best method
of handling the situation, for the problem affects all three.
A national system of labor exchanges should be combined
with such a system of insurance.

Unemployment is a cause not only of poverty but also
of crime, intemperance, vice, and gambling. It breaks up
families, leads to divorce, causes child labor, forces women
into industry, and lowers wages. If unemployment is done
away with or reduced to a minimum, these problems as
well as others will be reduced.

At the beginning of the great war in 1914 the amount of
unemployment in the United States was unusually large, thou-
sands being thrown out of employment in all our large cities.
Everywhere it was recognized that the war would bring
increased industrial prosperity to the country, but few knew
just where it would come; so everybody waited and factories
and large industries laid off their employees and undertook
little new work.

After a while the demand for commodities as a result of
the war materialized and the slack was taken up and there
developed a shortage of labor, and a condition just the oppo-
site to the former one developed. This was increased when
the United States went into the war and began to draft men
from industry. While the government did its best not to
disturb industry more than it could help, there immediately
arose a surplus of jobs and* a scarcity of workers. So great
became the shortage of help and so long its duration that we
almost began to accept it as a natural condition. Instead
of immigrants crowding our shores we began to experience
emigration. Women went into industry in the endeavor to
fill this gap, also because of the attraction of large wages.

C70 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

After the war was over and our soldiers returned the shortage
of workers prevailed because the demand for goods continued
to exceed the supply. The war had destroyed so many com-
modities and had postponed purchases of ordinary articles
to such an extent that industry could not fill the demand and
the shortage of labor continued. Immigration did not come
back in its former volume, possibly being checked because of
the literacy test and high prices of transportation, but still
more likely by the change in conditions in Europe. We are
gradually catching up with the extraordinary demand for
goods and it seems to be only a question of time till we
return to something like our old condition of surplus of labor,
altho the change in our immigration laws may keep down
our surplus of labor to some extent.

( 2 ) . Low Wages. — We have already considered in con-
nection with family budgets the problem of low wages in
its relation to the family. The question might be brot up
here of the ethics of low wages. The usual answer given
is that the person receives a low wage because he or she
produces little. Yet wages depend very slightly upon produc-
tivity. The product of labor fixes the upper limit of wages,
never the lower. That is set by competition or regulated
by supply and demand. As a rule big business is organized
and does very little competing. If labor is abundant wages
are low; if scarce wages are higher. Some industries make
no pretense of paying all a person is worth to them but depend
upon a surplus of labor, and so give as little as possible,
often paying a person with dependents a wage too low to
support even one person. The department store is notorious
for this. Also cotton mills, especially in the South, woolen
mills, silk mills, and candy factories are great offenders.
Many states are attempting to set minimum wage standards
for different industries — in 1917 twelve states had passed
minimum wage laws — the most of these states have com-
missions which set a minimum wage for each industry. A
number of industries, particularly those employing large num-
bers of women, as the department stores, candy factories,
and laundries, have been investigated by these commissions
and minimum wages set. The question arises as to whether
it is -ethically just for any industry to be allowed to be a
parasite, as the department store has been for some time.
It is often discussed as to whether society has the right to
allow a great department store to go on piling up millions

POVERTY A CONDITION OF MALADJUSTMENT 371

in profits for the founder's descendants, who do absolutely
nothing towards earning them, at the expense of the poor
employees in the store, who are not in a position to force
their wages up. A person who labors and who is actually
productive and efficient is entitled to a living. Yet thou-
sands do not receive it. The wage of the day laborer in
the past has not been sufficient to support a family; in fact
the wage of the unskilled laborer in general has not allowed
the worker any margin at all, often not even a decent living
wage. The wages in many industries, including the sweated
industries, have not permitted a decent living, to say nothing
of comforts. Is it right for society to allow such condi-
tions? Practically the only way of dealing with such a sit-
uation is by means of a minimum wage law. If such a law
were correctly drawn and rigidly enforced and supported by
public opinion, the condition would right itself. If the work
was necessary, the workers would become trained and effi-
cient; then they would receive living wages. If this increased
the cost of manufactured and retailed products, all well and
good, for then the people who enjoyed the fruits of the labor
would pay for it. Trade schools to teach efficiency would
then be in demand and would help to solve the problem.

Again as a result of war conditions causing the scarcity
of labor as indicated above has tended to raise wages. In
many industries they went up even more than increased
prices. In many they just kept pace with the increase in
prices and in others they did not keep up at all. This
depended upon the demand for the products of these indus-
tries. Wages are generally slower to rise than prices and
salaries slower to fall when prices come down. Just now
it is too early to predict just what will happen when we
return to normal conditions but in all probability it will
be some time before we return to the desperately low wages
fhat formerly prevailed in some industries, if we ever do.

(3). Irregularity of Employment and Seasonable Work.—
Under this heading would come the English dock laborers
who work night and day when shipping is brisk and go for
days and weeks without work when no ships come in. If
industry were properly organized, ^uch irregularity in work
would be reduced to a minimum. 'These seasonable workers
would dove-tail into other seasonable occupations. If this
is impossible, wages should be high enuf to enable the work-
ers to live.

372 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

(4). Immobility oj Labor. — Of all commodities labor is
the most immobile; this fact adds to its poor bargaining
position. The higher grade the labor, the easier it is for
the laborer to move, for he has the reserve power produced
by greater intelligence and higher wages. The man with
a small income is ordinarily unable to move even if he knows
that there is work to be had in another place.

(5). Unhealthjul and Dangerous Occupations. — In 1912
10,585 persons were killed and 169,528 persons injured by
the railroads of the United States; four-fifths of these people
were employees of the railroads. In 1913 33,787 employees
were killed and 172,783 injured. While railroading can never
be made absolutely safe, it kills and injures far too many.
The same is true of mining. Many occupations are dangerous
to the health of its workers; the making of matches was espe-
cially so till the use of poisonous phosphate was forbidden
in their manufacture. Glass plants, lead industries, steel
mills, and many kinds of factories offer hazards to life.
Others, which are not dangerous, are frequently unhealthful
to the lives of their workers; among these might be men-
tioned the cigar factories, cotton mills, and telephone
exchanges. Modern laws more and more compel the employ-
ers to protect their employees from dangerous machinery;
they force laundries to put guards upon the mangles so that
the fingers of the operators will not be caught and crushed,
and companies to cover up belts and place guards around
dangerous machinery. Forcing the railroads to use air brakes
and coupling devices that do not menace the fingers of the
brakemen are regulations along this line. Unnecessary risks
are being eliminated more and more by the making and
enforcing of such laws. Disasters like the Triangle Shirt
Company fire in New York, the Eastland disaster in Chicago
river, the Iroquois theatre fire, and the burning of the "Gen-
eral Slocum", in which hundreds of children were either burned
or drowned, have forcibly brot the need of safety provisions
and the enforcement of regulations before the public and
after every great disaster we find a rush to prevent any simi-
lar disasters in the future. When the attention of the public
is brot to such dangers, public sentiment is generally created
to a degree strong enuf to compel the proper legislation. As
industry speeds up, dangers increase, but the increase in
watchfulness probably keeps pace with it. This condition

POVERTY A CONDITION OF MALADJUSTMENT 373

cannot be prevented but can be held to a minimum by proper
watchfulness.

5. Changes in Industry. — (1). New Machinery.—
The industrial revolution in England caused untold misery.
It threw thousands out of employment, reduced wages, and
caused privation and misery on every hand. The invention
of any new machine or improved method which enables one
person to do the work formerly requiring several throws men
out of employment and thus causes poverty. After a time
industry readjusts itself and a better condition results. The
improved machine produces more and lowers prices; the
lower price increases demand for the commodity; greater con-
sumption increases the demand for labor. But the temporary
readjustment causes misery.

( 2 ) . New Styles. — Varying styles bring about changes in
trade, narrow skirts caused a smaller demand for cloth than
usual and compelled the quick return to wider skirts in order
that the manufacturers might not lose money. The chief
difficulty in this case was that so many women instead of
buying new skirts merely cut down their old ones. The
unpopularity of the bicycle caused the bicycle industry to
go to the wall. Later the automobile filled this gap, but
as a result of the growth of the automobile business the
wagon industry suffered. Even reforms sometimes disturb
conditions; prohibition, for example, decreased the demand
for bottles and barrels and caused some unemployment until
industry readjusted itself. This was possibly more noticeable
in local option days when a town went dry than when the
whole nation adopted prohibition for there was an uncertainty
as to the future. The adoption of national prohibition came
at a very fortunate time when the extra demand quickly
absorbed the slack and there was very little unemployment.

(3). Changes in the Value of Money. — When prices fall
and money becomes more valuable, it causes the debtor class
to suffer. On the other hand a sudden rise in prices makes
life harder on the working man, for wages are always slower
to' rise than the prices of commodities, and while the laborer
is compelled to pay more for food, clothing, rent, and common
necessities, his pay envelope for a long time is no fatter.

(4). Changes in Tariff Schedules. — Putting a tariff on
a commodity immediately raises its price, whether the article
is imported or not, for prices are based more upon the ability
to commana than upon the cost of production. Taking a

374 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

tariff off an article often forces industries out of business,
thus causing unemployment and suffering. The building up
of the sugar industry in the United States is a good example
of an industry fostered by a protective tariff. When the
tariff on sugar was removed, this industry was threatened
with ruin.

(5). Any Great Disturbance in Industry. — Such a dis-
turbance was caused in the United States in 1914 by the war
in Europe. Even tho we profited by it financially because
it furnished us a new market, it caused distress until we
could readjust our industry to new conditions. After the
abnormal conditions produced by the war are over the read-
justment to normal times will cause a similar depression,
only this time it may be more serious because it will be a
contraction instead of an expansion. Any readjustment in
industry brings hardship to some.

6. Defects in Educational System. — Illiterate and
uneducated persons are at a disadvantage in life's struggle.
An educational system which does not reach all is at fault;
also an educational system which does not train for life is
a cause of dependence. Lack of industrial training and of
teaching of trades is a noticeable defect in our present educa-
tional system. The teaching of manual training is an attempt
to remedy this situation, and should be extended. Free public
instruction should extend to all kinds of professional and
industrial training, as well as cultural training. The Gary
system, combining all forms of education, is one method of
dealing with this problem. Poor education is one cause of
poverty which we can easily deal with; it is one which the
American people, eager to remedy it, are grappling with
now. School medical inspection and school lunches are among
the recent methods of attacking the problem.

7. Defective Courts and Punitive Machinery. — If
Courts are corrupt or inefficient, laws are not obeyed. Then,
too, if the punitive machinery is defective and court sen-
tences are not carried out, laws are disregarded. This means
that preventive legislation will not be enforced, that the
strong will prey upon the weak, and that misery and distress
will be increased. There has not been much question of the
integrity of the American courts, altho such cannot be said
of the legal machinery of many countries, especially China
and Turkey. There has, however, been great complaint of
the inefficiency of our courts. Decisions are often not handed

POVERTY A CONDITION OP MALADJUSTMENT 375

down till all interested in the case are dead and buried and
the whole matter lost sight of by everyone except the lawyers.
Appeal can be taken so easily that cases often become mere
matters of who have the deepest pocket-books. The poor
man in the lower court often receives only the mere pretence
of justice, cases involving the future of men receiving from
ten to thirty seconds time, in some cases the defendant, espe-
cially if he is an immigrant, being given no chance at defense.
This causes a disrespect for law and a hatred of society.
The introduction of the public defender is a great reform
in this way, especially in compelling employers to pay workers
and in forcing those indebted to poor persons to settle, this
being accomplished in most cases by a letter from the public
defender.

8. Defective Sanitation. — We mentioned this under
government, but poor sanitation is also due to other reasons
than defective government. It may be the result of ignor-
ance, neglect, or poor location. It is one of the most frequent
causes of sickness, and so is a great producer of poverty.

9. Degenerate or Bad Surroundings. — Living near
a degenerate neighborhood or where one does not come into
contact with real industry and enterprise is an indirect cause
of poverty, for no real enthusiasm is engendered and one
becomes discouraged, feeling that life is of no use. This
is especially true if one lives among thieves and grafters,
for one feels that it is useless to work or save; such a condi-
tion is especially destructive in its influence upon children.

10. Social Institutions, Such as Treating. — The habit
of drinking was formerly an excellent illustration. A person
would go into a saloon to get a glass of beer, but meeting
friends while there, he would because of treating drink six or
eight glasses and spend, instead of five cents, as he intended,
possibly fifty cents before he would go out.

11. Immigration. — By increasing the supply of labor
without causing a proportionate increase in the demand for
commodities immigration upsets the balance between supply
and demand for labor, and so lowers wages — or keeps them
from rising — and throws many out of employment. This
was a cause of poverty in the United States in the past and
will be again in the future if the immigrant wave again sets
in. This cause was made manifest by the immediate jump
in wages when immigration stopped and emigration set in
as a result of the great war.

376 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

12. Accidents, Other Than Those Caused by Dan-
gerous Occupations. — These decrease the earnings, increase
expenses, and hence often throw below the poverty line fam-
ilies which otherwise would be able to stay above. The loss
of the bread winner of the family may break up the family.
This problem is met in European countries like Germany,
and England by sickness and accident insurance which is com-
pulsory and which is generally paid partly by the employer,
partly by the employee, and partly by the state. This is one
instance where the United States lags behind Europe in social
development.

13. Unwise Giving and Indiscriminate Charity.—
Especially defective has been a large part of the charity of
the churches. To them giving has been the chief thing and,
being ignorant of how to give, they have in all probability
caused more poverty than they have prevented. Unwise sys-
tems of relief increase poverty; such was the old English
method of supplementing the wages, for this method of making
up the difference between the wage received and a living
wage puts a premium upon low wages. Unwise giving
removes the incentive to work and kills the spirit of independ-
ence. Giving to a beggar simply in order to get rid of him
or because his condition touches a sympathetic chord is prob-
ably the worst thing we could do for him. If the beggar is
successful, he will choose begging as an occupation because
it is more lucrative than working. Giving to a family without
careful investigation often causes the family to cease to be
independent and to depend entirely upon charity in the future.
It has been noticed in Chicago that once a family receives
help from the city it never ceases to receive it, but remains
on the list. If one family thus succeeds in getting help, all
its neighbors want it too, even if they have previously been
independent. Giving in general, except in cases of dire need,
is more injurious than helpful, especially if this giving is ren-
dered without careful investigation and without the requir-
ing of some form of service in return. The average person
is more in need of an opportunity to earn a living that he
is of relief.

II. Subjective Causes of Poverty. — By subjective
causes we mean those originating within the person. These
form from 25 to 40 per cent of the causes of poverty and
are not so important as formerly considered. They are of
course mixed up with the objective causes, often being results

POVERTY A CONDITION OF MALADJUSTMENT 377

of objective causes and often likewise underlying them. In
fact it is seldom possible to separate them entirely, but the
following are generally considered the most important of the
subjective causes.

1. Disease, Sickness, and Poor Health. — In his "Mis-
ery and Its Causes" Devine asserts that three-fourths of all
persons coming before charitable organizations for aid are
in need of medical attention in some form or other or are
affected by sickness in some way. As we have noticed, some
of this sickness is caused by dangerous occupations and insan-
itary surroundings and so is almost outside of the control
of the individual. This condition is also caused by malnu-
trition, which renders the body susceptible to disease and sick-
ness. This is especially true of children. It has been noted
that about 20 per cent of the children in the public schools
of our cities do not receive food sufficient in quality or quan-
tity, and as a result they are unable to do the required school
work. The same fact is true in regard to all work, for to
be efficient one must be in good physical condition. Formerly
sickness was thot to be a plague or punishment sent by God.
Now it is looked upon as a result of maladjustment and irra-
tional living. Chronic diseases cause much poverty by increas-
ing expense and decreasing the income. Even common dis-
eases like measles, whooping cough, and grippe cause much
poverty, not only by increasing the expense but by throwing
the parents out of work thru quarantine and because of look-
ing after the sick ones. Moreover, the death rate from meas-
les and whooping cough is very high, especially among chil-
dren, often exceeding that of dreaded diseases like small-pox;
but because of the commonness of them we do not fear them
and often take no pains to prevent their spreading. Corpora-
tions are realizing the economic loss brot to themselves as
well as to their employees and their families thru illness;
so they are hiring company doctors, establishing hospitals, and
more important still hiring visiting nurses, who not only nurse
the sick but teach the mothers to cook better and to keep
the home in a more sanitary condition, thus increasing the
efficiency of the workers. Dispensaries and free hospitals are
provided by cities for the same purpose. Science is slowly con-
quering the various diseases by finding cures for them, as
for example the treating of typhoid fever, dyptheria, and
whooping cough by means of anti- toxins; the cure for hook-
worm; modern scientific treatment for tuberculosis; the dis-

378 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OP SOCIOLOGY

covery of "606" as a cure for syphillis; and the discovery of
cures for typhus and yellow fevers. If these treatments are
placed within the reach of the poor thru free hospitals and
dispensaries and the spread of the knowledge of hygiene by
means of visiting nurses is carried on, the importance of sick-
ness as a cause of poverty will be diminished. It will not
only decrease poverty but increase efficiency. In other words
the policy of the future in regard to this must be to have
the very best medical treatment within the reach of all, then
teach people to live so as not to have to use it. This, one
of the greatest and most far-reaching causes of poverty, is
now being dealt with in a correct manner — that is, of pre-
vention, in addition to the relief of present sickness.

2. Shiftlessness and Laziness. — From 10 to 15 per
cent of poverty is generally attributed to shiftlessness, but
if we go deeply enuf into the matter we usually find some
cause for shiftlessness. Nevertheless we find people who are
too indolent to replace broken window panes, too sluggish
to harvest their crops after they have ripened, and in fact
too lazy to do anything which is not absolutely required of
them. As a result they are continually in trouble and as
soon as misfortune comes in are in distress. This trait seems
to go in families, and so we find degenerate and worthless
families which cost their communities thousands of dollars.
These are the people, as a rule, who have large families,
which of course they are not able to support. Laziness is
very often due to undervitalization, caused by poor food and
poor living conditions. Sometimes sickness or disease is a
source of this trouble; the hook-worm, for example, causes
much of the indolence of the poor whites of the South and
robs them of their vitality. Malaria has the same effect.
Fighting these diseases and thus removing the cause is the
only apparent way of eliminating this condition. As for lack
of energy and ambition, unless it is caused by undervitaliza-
tion and illness, we have no solution except possibly by means
of some kind of stimulus. In individual cases spurring on
can be done by means of an appeal to pride or by increasing
the desires, as is some times done with negroes by the display
of attractive goods in shop windows. Industrial concerns in
the South have obtained results by establishing company
stores which display all manner of finery, thus stimulating
a desire to work.

POVERTY A CONDITION OF MALADJUSTMENT 379

3. Poor Judgment. — This is closely akin to the preced-
ing cause, only it appears to be more hopeless. Some people
seem to have the ability to decide wisely in their undertak-
ings, to choose the right path, to buy the most economical
things, to decide upon what is cheapest and best in the long
run, to choose their careers with the final goal in sight. Others
seem to have just the opposite ability — if we may be allowed
to call it that; they are always being swindled, always getting
the worst of the bargain, always getting left, and always
having a tale of woe to tell. Some are always having bad
luck, continually meeting with accidents, and constantly get-
ting sick. They are the ones who lose their positions, pay
the highest prices for things, and never know how to econo-
mize, and so are never able to save. Sometimes when they
do chance to reach the brink of success, they change their
mind and sacrifice all they have gained. In short, the world
seems to be full of fools, who become the victims of those
endowed with ' better intelligence. While this characteristic
is of course inherited, we occasionally see in the same family
one member who is always "lucky" and another who is always
"unfortunate". One has good judgment, and the other poor
judgment. Apparently this whole condition is without remedy,
except that judgment can be trained to some extent if the
attempt is begun early enuf in life. It is a matter of the
home and home training.

4. Intemperance, Bad Habits, Etc. — The use of alco-
hol has been one of the greatest causes of poverty that we
have had, about 25 per cent of all cases being chargeable
to it and at least SO per cent of poverty indirectly the result
of it. Yet this same poverty is attributable to other sources.
It, like unemployment and sickness, is cumulative and reflex-
ive. Intemperance increases poverty, causes poorer families,
necessitates less desirable home and poorer food. These accel-
erate the desire for liquor, and the further drinking of liquor
increases poverty. Poverty drives to drink just as drink
drives to poverty. Drink reduces efficiency, which reduces
income, which increases poverty, which increases the tempta-
tion to drink, and so it goes on, forming an endless chain.
The use of opium and morphine, Copenhagen snuff, cocaine,
and all forms of drugs has the same effect. For this cause
we have tried in the United States several methods of pro-
cedure, such as high licenses, local option, and the dispen-
sary system, and at last have come to the true and only

380 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

logical solution, prohibition. Other countries are still grap-
pling with the problem. We have likewise forbidden the sale
of most of the injurious drugs. With this cause removed it
will be much easier to reach some of the other causes; low
wages, unemployment, sickness, immorality, crime, neglect, and
desertion.

5. Immorality. — This is a great occasion of degeneracy
and poverty. In such studies as those made of the Jukes,
Kallikak, and Nam Families we find immorality and intem-
perance going hand in hand, holding these families down to
a state of poverty and degeneracy. Immorality weakens vital-
ity and efficiency and so decreases earnings. It again is joined
with other causes, such as poor judgment and intemperance,
and is a result of poverty as well as a cause. On account
of the nature of this source of poverty it is next to impossi-
ble to make any really accurate estimate of its importance.

6. Old Age. — On the face of it old age would appear
to be a very large cause of poverty, but upon examination
we find that it is relatively unimportant. When a person
becomes old, his dependants have, as a rule, grown up, and
nearly always there are relatives to care for the aged ones,
if they have no means of support of their own. European
countries, especially England, France, and Germany, handle
this problem by means of old pensions or old age insurance,
and it is possibly only a question of time till we do the same
in this country. We generally do care for the aged poor,
but in a shabby manner. This cause can never be removed,
altho it can be lessened by increasing the opportunity for
saving; also by proper systems of insurance its bad effects
can be eliminated. It is a comparatively easy matter to
deal with as compared with some others.

7. Neglect and Desertion by Husband and Relatives.
-These figure in from 5 to 10 per cent of the causes of

destitution. They are especially important and at the same
time unfortunately too common, particularly when the chil-
dren are young. The time when the children are too small
to help is the time when it is the hardest to support the
family, and hence neglect occurs because of selfishness or
necessity. Also too many fathers become discouraged at their
inability to support the family and desert them, thus only
increasing the problem. It is difficult to remedy this situa-
tion. Attempts are sometimes made to bring back the desert-
ing fathers and compel them to support the family, and also

POVERTY A CONDITION OF MALADJUSTMENT 381

to compel parents to look after their children. But relief
is usually the only thing possible: helping the mother to hold
the family together and sometimes removing the children from
the home, when the home is hopeless. This condition is also
the result of other causes, particularly intemperance, immo-
rality, low wages, and crime. Not only neglect of children
by their parents but neglect of parents by their children is
quite common in America because of the breaking down of
patriarchal authority and the lessening of parental respect.

8. Crime and Dishonesty. — Not only are persons made
unemployable by dishonesty and crime, and so unable to
provide for their families, but, when a person is sentenced to
prison, his family is often left destitute. Moreover, when the
prisoner is discharged it is extremely difficult for him to get
work again. The modern system of paroling and finding work
before the parole is granted is dealing with the problem in
the correct manner. Also public opinion is changing some-
what in regard to the employment of an ex-convict, because
belief in reformation is gradually being adopted. Then, too,
we are becoming more altruistic and are more willing to give
a man another chance. Dishonesty will always, and proba-
bly always should, stand in the way of success.

9. Ignorance, Other Than Lack of Education. — This
is closely akin to poor judgment, yet has a slightly different
aspect. We find people who simply do not know how to do
things and who never are able to learn to do anything except
as they are directed. This is not necessarily feeble-minded-
ness, for very often the person has normal intellect but simply
does not know how to go about things. The person with
poor judgment may be very industrious and may accomplish
things, and then spoil it all by poor decisions. But the ineffi-
cient person simply is not able to produce much; so he earns
little. Ignorance on the part of wives in household matters
comes in here: ignorance of methods of running a house, plan-
ning a well-balanced diet, buying economically; ignorance of
hygiene, of the proper care of the sick, and of the rearing
of children. Also under this heading ' comes ignorance of a
person's own condition, such as found in the case of the Geor-
gia "cracker". Improvement of the environment alleviates
this condition by bringing such people into contact with effi-
ciency and knowledge.

10. Large Families. — Formerly large families were con-
sidered assets, because as soon as the children outgrew the

382 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

period of infancy they were trained to help add to the food
supply, and as they grew older they contributed to the defense
as well as the support of the family. This was true in Amer-
ica down thru colonial times and in later days on the frontier
as long as free or cheap land was available. After we began
to settle down to our present manner of living, there was no
longer productive work for the children to do. Then again
our ideas in regard to education of children and to child
labor have changed. Now instead of being assets, children
are liabilities and a source of added expense. Therefore as
the size of the family grows the strain increases in proportion.
Whereas a family might remain independent if there were
only two or three children, it frequently is unable to do so
when the number increases to eight or ten. This fact has
grown more important with the increased cost of bearing and
rearing children.

11. War, Famine, and Disaster. — The World War
caused endless poverty as well as untold suffering and misery.
This not only is true for the present time, but it will be felt
for generations to come. While the effects of war have been
most severely felt in those countries which were overrun by
the armies, especially by the armies of the central powers —
particularly Poland, Serbia, Armenia, Belgium, and northern
France — war affected all the nations engaged in the struggle.
It took away, killed, and crippled millions of bread-winners,
bringing in destruction and often starvation. Property lying
in the track of the armies was destroyed and industries were
shattered, even thousands of miles away from the actual fight-
ing, thru the destruction of markets. The fighting nations
piled up debts which will mean heavy taxes for years, in fact
for generations to come. While these are abnormal causes,
the World War alone will be a source of poverty for the next
hundred years at least.

As we have seen, we find that ordinarily instead of there
being one cause of destitution there are several; we find also
that these causes go hand in hand, one prompting a second,
and it in turn bringing on another. Unemployment leads
to intemperance, which may result in crime. Sickness may
reduce one's efficiency; lack of efficiency may bring on unem-
ployment, and so on. We find that laziness and shiftlessness
are frequently caused by undervitalization, which itself may
be the result of sickness or poor food. Both of these may be
the consequence of ignorance or poor judgment. Ignorance

POVERTY A CONDITION OF MALADJUSTMENT 383

may be due to the person's being compelled to go to work
too early in life. This necessity may be the result of the
death of the father thru an accident caused by the danger
of the occupation. The danger of the occupation may be due
to the lack of legislation caused by the graft in politics or
to the inefficiency of the courts in neglecting to enforce the
laws. Unemployment may be due to a change in industry, a
change in style, immobility of labor, or some great upheaval
of industry; or it may be a temporary condition caused by
the seasonableness of trade. Not only is it absolutely impos-
sible to single out any one cause of poverty, but it is impos-
sible to find any cause which is not connected with some
other cause. Poverty is cumulative; poverty breeds poverty.
The majority of the poor are held down in poverty as ruth-
lessly and arbitrarily as if there were some ironclad rule or
law forbidding them to emerge from their condition.

Causes of Poverty ; Also Results of Poverty. — More- \
over, these conditions which we have noted are not only causes
of poverty, but are also results of poverty. Poverty makes /
one inefficient; unemployment follows. Poverty makes the /
home unattractive; the saloon and drunkenness resulted. Pov- v
erty lowers one's bargaining position; low wages and irregu- )
larity of work are consequent. Poverty prevents the laborer /
from moving to a place where work can be had. Poverty will \
not allow one to take time to learn a new trade when a change
in style or a new machine deprives him of the old trade. I
Poverty prevents the child of the very poor from being able /
to receive the full benefit of the school. Lack of money com- /
pels the poor man to live in an insanitary and undesirable/
neighborhood. Poverty encourages indiscriminate living. Poor/
nutrition, caused by poverty, makes one less able to escape
accident, increasing the chance of one's falling into dangerous
machinery. Poverty prevents the employment of good doctors
and nurses in case of sickness, as well as precautions neces-
sary to avoid illness. Poverty forces women into prostitu-
tion as well as being a result of immorality. Poverty causes
family discord and desertion, also crime and dishonesty.
Ignorance is likewise traceable to poverty, as well as being
the cause of it. Even defective government may be the
result of the government falling into the hands of the rich
and powerful; the poor being too weak to rise or protest,
are ground down under the feet of the mighty. The same
is true of defective courts and punitive machinery. Laboring

384 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

Families
No. Per Ct.

men receive far greater consideration in our courts since the
unions have become strong; even decisions of the Supreme
Court are much more favorable towards them. It is only
human nature to despise the weak and instead of helping them
to kick them still lower down. People may be too poor not
only to profit by the educational system but even to demand
such a system, this being the condition in many countries
even today. Bad climatic conditions and insufficient natural
resources may be endured because the people are too poor
to overcome or move away from them. In fact it is almost
impossible to find a cause of poverty which is not also a
result of it. This condition accounts for the diversity of views
in regard to the causes of poverty and remedies for it. This
is the reason why it is so exceedingly difficult to make an
accurate and scientific study of poverty. The more definite
and clear one becomes, the farther he strays from the real
truth of the situation. This is also one reason why sociology
is not always the easy subject that some imagine it to be.

This complexity may be illustrated by the disabilities
found as causes of destitution in the cases of 5000 families
needing aid in New York City.1

Disability —

1. Unemployment 4424 3458 69.16

2. Overcrowding 2014 44.68

3. Widowhood 1472 29.3

4. Chronic physical disability 1603 1365 27.3

5. Temporary physical disability (accident

and child-birth excepted) 1158 984 19.68

6. More than 3 children under 14 years 944 ' 18.88

7. Intemperance 1000 833 16.67

8. Less than 5 years in New York City 814 16.28

9. Tuberculosis 675 619 12.38

10. Desertion and persistent non-support. 606 12.12

11. Head of family 60 years or older__J_ 599 11.98

12. Laziness, shiftlessness 667 588 11.76

13. Child-birth 363 363 7.26

14. Rheumatism 359 347 6.94

15. Immorality 337 256 5.12

16. Mental disease, defects, or deficiencies 267 248 4.96

17. Cruelty, abuse 229 221 4.42

18. Accident 201 198 3.96

19. Untruthfulness, unreliability 210 194 3.88

20. Criminal record 161 151 3.02

21. Violent or irritable temper 148 140 2.80

22. Waywardness of children 160 129 2.58

23. Disposition to beg 134 117 2.34

24. Child labor (general, not illegal) 85 42 .84

25. Gambling 22 22 .44

e, E. T., "Misery and Its Causes", p. 204.

Individuals
Affected

POVERTY A CONDITION OF MALADJUSTMENT

385

Rowntree1 gives us the following interesting diagram as to
the times in life when one is the most apt to sink below
the poverty line. It will be noticed that there are three
periods: first in childhood, if the parents are poor; next in
the prime of life, if there are several children who thus increase
the burden; and last in old age, when one loses his earning
power.

MARRIES

CHILDREN

BEGIN TO

EARN

CHILDREN

MARRY AND

LEAVE LABORER

HOME PAST WORK

O 5 10 15 2O 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70

Other Effects of Poverty. — In addition to the results
of poverty given above, along with the causes the following
are some of the effects of poverty. These might be called
different phases of the problem, but because they are natural
outgrowths of poverty we shall take them up as consequences.
Each of these might be considered as a problem in itself.
But they are all lineal descendants of mother poverty.

Child Labor. —In 1900 1,750,000 children were employed
in the United States. Since then most states have passed
child labor laws. Because so much of child labor is illegal,
it is difficult to find reliable statistics for the present time.
Estimates range between 1,500,000 and 2,000,000 for 1916-
1917. Much of this is allowed thru the lax enforcement of
the child labor laws and because of defects in these laws,
especially in the Southern states.

Child labor has arisen largely since the introduction of
machinery. Before that time the child worked at home,
where it received the training of the parents, who took pride
in its work and stimulated a spirit of emulation in the child.
The child was looked after and seldom was worked beyond
its endurance. With the introduction of machinery the atti-
tude changed, and the chief consideration became not the

'Rowntree, B. S., "Poverty, a Study 0} Town Life", p. 13.

386 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

child's welfare but the amount of product, because this deter-
mined the profit. With the coming of the Industrial Revolu-
tion in the latter part of the eighteenth century children
were in demand for work in the factories of England. Because
of the existing sentiment against this and because of the
stigma put upon the "factory girl" it was extremely difficult
to get sufficient children to run the factories, and the people
of England did not respond until forced to it by starvation.
The mill owners filled their factories from the workhouses;
trafficers in children appeared and children were sold almost
like slaves. Of course no wages were paid and the children
were given the poorest of food and the scantiest of clothing;
in fact thousands were practically starved. Children were
so cheap that it did not pay to feed them well; it was cheaper
to replace them. These children, some as young as eight
and ten years of age, were worked to the limit of their endur-
ance, the working day generally being sixteen hours. If the
children gave out before quitting time, they were revived either
with the lash or by being dipped in a tub of water. Some-
times they were shackled to prevent their running away. Of
course the death rate was high, but the parishes were glad
thus to get rid of their poor children. By the Act of 1802
the hours were reduced to twelve and employers were required
to provide for the clothing, education, and religious training
of the children, if education and instruction can be imagined
under such conditions. This act did not apply to children
working "under the supervision of their parents". As a result
the system of pauper apprenticeship was broken up, because
it was cheaper to hire children than to comply with the pro-
visions of this troublesome law. Wages had. already been
forced down and adults employed only on condition that
they bring a child or two. In the meantime the hand indus-
tries had been driven out of business by the cheaper machine
made goods; so the workers had to come to terms of the
owners. These free children, sent by their parents, were
treated almost as brutally as under the old system and were
often cruelly beaten, but the parents were not in a position
to object. So much for the introduction of child labor. Our
present problem is merely a survival of this condition amid
new surroundings. Child labor is possible and profitable
largely because of machine production, which makes it econom-
ical to employ children and possible for them to do the work
which had been or which otherwise would be done by adults.

POVERTY A CONDITION OF MALADJUSTMENT 387

There are a number of industries which are the heaviest
employers of children. Probably the worst offenders in the
United States are the cotton mills of the South; it is argued
by the owners that because they give work they better the
condition of the people. But the hours are long — the ten-
hour day prevailing; the children are employed to run high
speed machinery, and they are often so small that they are
compelled to climb upon the machines to tend them. The
age limit is so low in all the Southern states, fourteen years
being high among them, and many states allow children even
younger to work. In addition, because of poor enforcement
of the laws thousands below the legal limits are employed.
It is argued in defense that the families need the money;
under the present scale of wages they possibly do.

The glass industry is another offender. The factories are
located in small towns near some ready fuel supply such as
natural gas. Because of being located in small towns and
because of the ease in moving, conditions are allowed which
otherwise might not be tolerated. The owners threaten to
move to another town, a thing which can easily be done, as
the equipment required is not much. In order to retain the
factories the towns do not enforce the child labor laws. In
these factories the children are employed to carry bottles
to and from the ovens, and are kept constantly on the trot.
Adults are not quick enuf to do this. Investigators have
figured that on an average the boy travels twenty-two miles
during the working day or night, running to and from the
oven with his loads of bottles. He received for this before
the war from sixty cents to one dollar a day. The work is
very injurious, especially in winter on the night shift, for
the boys leave their hot work to go out into the bitter cold
of the early morning, and fall easy victims to pneumonia
and grippe. The glare also affects the eyes, and if the boys
work on the night shift it is extremely difficult for them to
sleep during the day; so they get insufficient rest. Then the
moral effect is bad, for the surroundings are generally not
what they should be.

The mines, especially the anthracite coal mines of Pennsyl-
vania, are other bad transgressors. They employ the boys
as breaker boys, whose work it is amid the dust to pick slate
from the coal as it slides by. The lungs become filled with
dust, the hands become bruised, and the boy becomes bent
with the work and stunted for life. He does not get an

388 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

education but graduates instead into the mines, where he
becomes a door boy or mule driver. The cigar factories are
somewhat the same, altho here the work is not hard; here
both boys and girls work in an atmosphere highly charged
with nicotine. This bad air generally brings on tubercu-
losis or stunts the body for life.

The canning industry employs much child labor. The con-
dition in the oyster and shrimp canneries is especially bad.
Children begin work as early as at four or five years of
age and work long hours, sometimes as many as fifteen hours
a day. Because their parents work with them conditions are
not so bad as in some industries, the children seldom being
abused, but the attitude of these parents seems strange to us;
the majority of them are immigrants; they look upon their
children as assets and expect them to help to support the
family, not considering an education as necessary for them.
The children work for their parents, so it is difficult to reach
them except thru the school laws, for they are not on the
lists of workers. A child of seven was able to make before
the war from ten to twenty-five cents a day; one from eight
to ten years of age about fifty cents a day, and one from
twelve to fourteen often as high as one dollar a day. But
the best of adults seldom made over one dollar, so there is
no outlook. This work is seasonable, but at the end of
the season the families are generally moved to the berry fields
for the rest of the year. Because the most of these canner-
ies are located in the South, where school laws are very lax,
these children receive little if any education. Moreover in
the berry season in New Jersey schools are not in session,
for it is then vacation. Some companies make a farce of
providing school, requiring the children to work four hours,
attend school half a day, then work four hours more. It can
be imagined how much education will be acquired.

Other industries employ children, but these mentioned are
some of the larger employers. Then in addition there are
home workers — children who work for their parents in the
sweated industries, even tiny children, scarcely more than
babies, helping their parents in making beads, artificial flow-
ers and feathers, in picking out bastings, and in doing what-
ever their little fingers are able to do. Conditions are not
quite so bad as in factories, because the children are working
with their parents; yet the most of these parents do not have
the high standards that we are accustomed to. The children

POVERTY A CONDITION OP1 MALADJUSTMENT 389

receive no wages and usually are under school age or work
after school hours, and they cannot be reached by any child
labor law.

Two of the most demoralizing occupations for children
are the messenger service and the selling of papers. One-third
of the boys sent to the John Worthy School in Chicago are
newsboys and one-third of these are below the normal in
physique. The work keeps the boys on the street for long
hours. They are under a constant strain and become old
for their years. They also become accustomed to the life
of the streets far too early in life. The occupation leads
nowhere and unfits them for life. The messenger boy is still
worse off, for often he works in the "red light" districts.
Here he not only comes into close contact with vice and so
generally becomes infected with the venereal diseases, but
encounters great temptation to dishonesty. Tips are larger,
persons are more careless, and it is easy to keep the change
or to overcharge. The messenger trade, like that of the news-
boy, leads nowhere and unfits for life. Formerly the boot-
black belonged to the same class, but the Greek bootblack
stands have put the native boys out of business; there is
tho a great deal of child labor in this business for boys are
imported from Greece often at an illegal age.

The moral effect of all child labor is demoralizing, even
when the work itself is not hard. The labor is generally
unskilled and the association is usually with coarse, unedu-
cated persons, where the language heard is vulgar, profane,
and obscene; frequently the minds are early polluted. The
child never fully develops; he early becomes discouraged and
prematurely old, for as Ruskin says, "To be a man too soon
is to be a small man", both mentally and physically. The
vitality of life is used up too early and he who enters indus-
try too soon is, in turn, too quickly thrown upon the scrap
heap. This also cripples the succeeding generations. A good
illustration of the effect of the system was furnished at the
time of the Boer War, when the physique of the population
of England was so poor that England could not fill her armies
sufficiently to fight that little nation and as a result had to
lower the physical requirements for admission into the army.
Child labor takes work away from parents and often in this
way demoralizes the family life, for instead of a man's sup-
porting his family he is compelled to let his family support
him. It keeps wages down, for the adult has to compete with

390 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

the child. Labor unions oppose it for this reason. Parents
get accustomed to depending upon the earnings of their chil-
dren and hence lose their parental love- and devotion. It is
unnecessary for industry, for there are enuf adults to do
the work. It is unnecessary for the family, for if it were
done away with wages would rise. It prevents improvements
in machinery, for it removes the incentive for invention.
Machines have been invented to do the work performed by
the boys in glass factories, but it is cheaper to hire boys, so
the machines are not installed. Other machines could be
invented to do much of the work now performed by children.
It is not necessary for the industries in question, for the ones
employing children generally pay high dividends, especially
the Southern cotton mills and the coal mines of Pennsyl-
vania. In fact practically all the industries could get along
just as well without child labor. But probably the most
important of all is the effect upon the nation of using up
its supply of labor too early in life. It is like harvesting
crops before they are ripe, cutting timber when it is too
small, or killing cattle when they are calves, only the effect is
far more damaging. It is using up future resources. It is
uneconomical and dangerous to our civilization. As men-
tioned before, most states have child labor laws and many
of these are good ones and are well enforced. Others, mostly
Southern states, have poor ones or have lax enforcement,
and these states profit at the expense of those having efficient
laws. What we need is a national child labor law. Several
attempts have been made to get such a law, but they have
been declared unconstitutional because contrary to clauses in
our constitution which are remnants of the old individualistic
idea of society. We need either a law which will avoid this
difficulty or an amendment to our constitution; otherwise,
states which are careless or have not developed a high moral
sense of responsibility will always profit at the expense of
those who have developed a higher social conscience. Until
we can get such a law need we better state laws, and still
more important, strict enforcement of them thru proper inspec-
tion and penalties.

Women in Industry. — By this subject we do not mean
the entry of the unmarried woman into industry or the fol-
lowing of a career or profession as such. What we mean
is the entry of the married woman into industry, not for
the purpose of a career or because she prefers it to house-

POVERTY A CONDITION OF1 MALADJUSTMENT 391

work, but out of necessity — the necessity of supplementing
the income of her husband. In this way the entrance of
woman into industry resembles child labor in many ways.
It causes the wife to neglect the home and children. It makes
it impossible to supply the family with proper food and atten-
tion. The children are neglected and forced upon the streets.
If the wife tries to keep up her house work at the same time,
the strain upon her is too great. If she delegates it to the
children, she puts burdens upon them too early in life. Often
she is compelled to labor when she is physically unfitted for
it, especially just before or after childbirth. The whole effect
is demoralizing and injurious to the family. The entry of
woman into industry under these conditions tends also to
keep wages down. It is one of the chief causes of our next
problem, child neglect. It increases the supply of labor,
hence causes unemployment. In this way it is closely inter-
woven with other problems.

Child Neglect. — The children of the poor are not only
underfed but also improperly fed. Often the food is suffi-
cient in quantity but not in quality, lacking nourishing
elements; in that case the children suffer from slow star-
vation. They are often sent to school without proper break-
fasts, for lunch they have given them to spend a few pennies
which go often for ice cream, candy, or pickles. Spargo
in his Bitter Cry of the Children estimated a few years
ago that 2,000,000 children of school age were victims of
poverty and were denied the common necessities of life, such
as adequate food, clothes, and shelter, and were turned adrift
with feeble minds and bodies. He brings out the question
whether it would not be better to feed these waifs than to
try to educate them. Also whether it is not brutal to try
to educate them when they are starving. The cause of dull-
ness in school is largely poor nutrition. Insufficient blood
goes to the brain. Insufficient clothing also requires too much
of the vitality of the body to fight off the cold. Children
become discouraged and leave school, take to the street,
and so easily drift into crime. Often they are taken out of
school on the ground that if they cannot learn they might
as well help pay the rent. Then child labor brings still fur-
ther injury physically, mentally, and morally. If the child
cannot stand the strain of school it cannot stand the strain
of factory lifc, and goes to help swell the class of degen-
erates. The criminal population, as we shall see in our

392 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF1 SOCIOLOGY

next chapter, is drawn largely from this class of degenerate
children. Reformatory children are nearly always smaller
and lighter in weight upon admission than normal children
of the same age. Poor nutrition lies at the root of much
of crime. So great has been this problem in the slum dis-
tricts that the public schools of most of our large cities have
had to follow the practice of many European cities in fur-
nishing free lunches or lunches at a low cost to the children.
In this way lunches that are nourishing and palatable are
furnished for a few cents. The writer was struck with the
wonderful popularity of these lunch rooms that he once visited
in some of the Chicago public schools. They are generally
conducted on the cafeteria plan but with some provision for
those who cannot afford even them. But when they were first
introduced, it was found that the digestive apparatus of many
children was so disorganized that it could not stand good
food; being too weak to digest it, the stomach would reject
it. In one place the soup was found to be too good and
had to be weakened. Children were found who could not
eat chicken or meats of any kind, who could not even drink
milk. This is one illustration of where the school has to
step in and perform the function of the home. Great improve-
ments in school work always follow the putting in of these
cheap lunch rooms. In Switzerland the poor children are
fed, clothed, and shod at public expense. Day homes are
provided for very young children. Children are examined and
the sick ones, instead of being sent home, where they are not
apt to receive proper care, are taken to sanitariums. In
Brussels and in Norway, if a child looks puny it is fed a
special diet, and the school system sees to it that every child
receives a square meal. In this respect America is behind
Europe, but is rapidly following in the wake. This work
must be extended if we expect to stop the recruiting of a
class of physical, mental, and moral degenerates. We are
putting in day nurseries, where working mothers may leave
their children under proper care. We are spreading the work
of visiting nurses who teach mothers how to cook and how
to care for their homes and children. We are also experi-
menting with mother's pensions, which allow them to stay
at home to care for the children if their husbands have died
or deserted them, the state thus paying for this important
service. We are also working towards minimum wage scales
to enable the parents to provide for the children. In other

POVERTY A CONDITION OF MALADJUSTMENT 393

words, we are not only trying to relieve the distress, but we
are attempting to dig up the roots of the evil.

Along this same line are to be considered the physical
defects of children, such as poor eyesight, adenoids, enlarged
tonsils, and other ailments which can easily be remedied if
treated in time. Many children are dull because of defec-
tive vision, poor hearing, or some such physical weakness
and if these faults are remedied the dullness often disappears.
It is even stated that Theodore Roosevelt was considered dull
until it was found out that he was nearsighted. With the
fitting of glasses the dullness quickly disappeared. This con-
dition is not always confined to the children of the very
poor, for well-to-do people, even clergymen, neglect to care
for their children in this respect, thinking that the child is
all right or putting off the matter too long, till the child is
injured for life. Many of our schools have medical inspec-
tion of the children at stated intervals. This too often is
done in a hasty manner, a mere glance being given each child.
Then if a defect, such as poor vision, is found, a note is sent
to the parents asking them to correct the trouble. These
warnings are frequently neglected; in fact less than half the
time are they heeded, the parents being too poor, too ignor-
ant, too shiftless, or too selfish to remedy the defect. There
ought to be better provision for such cases, for the country
cannot afford to have its children thus neglected, even if the
parents are too worthless to care for the matter. This is
one line of work that needs to be greatly extended.

It seems sad but it is true that poverty always falls the
heaviest upon those who have no control over it, especially
the child, who has to go without proper food, clothing, and
shelter, and who has to endure suffering and is often killed,
or ruined for life's battle. The death rate for the poorest
class of laborers is three and one-half times as great as among
the well-to-do. The infantile death rate is much greater
because of the weaker vitality, making it more difficult to
throw off disease. Poverty always falls heavier upon woman
than man, and heavier upon the child than the adult.

Degeneracy. — We find not only degenerate families but
also degenerate communities and degenerate nations. The
causes entering into this problem are many, but one of the
principal ones is poverty. Poverty holds down, removes, or
prevents the development of ambition. Poverty, as we have
found out, brings with it a myriad of other evils like crime,

394 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF1 SOCIOLOGY

ignorance, immorality, lack of patriotism, and narrowness of
mind. Degeneracy is not all due to poverty: biological fac-
tors have to be considered, and geographic features are deter-
minants of many causes. But poverty is the cause of much
of it. The writer well remembers when on a trip thru the
mountains of southeastern Kentucky being greatly surprised
at the prosperity of the country and the rapid strides which
that section was taking. The reason back of it all he found
out was the discovery of coal, which was bringing wealth
into the country. Wealth brings opportunity for an educa-
tion, time for study, means of travel, and a chance to enjoy
the comforts of life. The inclination may have been there
before, but poverty prevents. If we examine the location
and economic status of the communities from which the degen-
erate families, such as the Jukes, Kallikak, Nam, and Hill
Folks come, we will find that poverty has prevailed. If we
take up the degenerate and backward sections of any country,
we find the same situation. This condition is partly the cause
of poverty but equally the result of it. The sand hills of
the Carolinas and Georgia, the Ozarks of Arkansas, the
mountains of Kentucky and Tennessee — all these have been
unproductive regions, also inaccessible places, which have
been left to their own poverty. If we examine the backward
countries of the world, we find the same fact to be true.

READING REFERENCES

PARMELEE, MAURICE, Poverty and Social Progress, Parts I and II.

DEVINE E. T., Misery and Its Causes.

HUNTER, ROBERT, Poverty.

LONDON, JACK, People of the Abyss.

Rns, JACOB, How the Other Half Lives.

Rns, JACOB, Battle With the Slum.

Rns, JACOB, Children of the Poor.

SPARGO, JOHN, The Bitter Cry of the Children.

NEARING, SCOTT E., Social Adjustment.

NEARING, SCOTT E., Poverty and Riches.

NEARING, SCOTT E., Social Religion.

NEARING, SCOTT E., Wages in the United States.

RYAN, J. A., A Living Wage.

KING, W. I., Wealth and Income of the People of the United States.

ROWNTREE, B. S., Poverty; A Study of Town Life.

FAIRCHILD, H. P., Applied Sociology, Part II.

WARNER, AMOS G., American Chanties, Part I.

BOOTH, CHARLES, Life and Labors of the People of London.

DEFOREST, R. W. AND VEILLER, L.., The Tenement House Problem, 2 Vols.

CHAPTER XX
POVERTY (Continued)

TREATMENT OF POVERTY

Historical Treatment of Poverty. — One of the earliest
methods of treating poverty was by slavery. If a person was
unable to make a living or to manage his own affairs in such
a way as to make both ends meet, he jvas sold into slavery,
so as to allow someone else to work him who was able to
bring this about. If a group or nation was unable to stand
on its own feet, it was likewise subjugated by a stronger one.
This solution of the problem was never consciously worked
out in accordance with any such theory, yet it was followed
to a considerable extent in ancient times. Among some peo-
ples the aged and crippled were" killed, sometimes in a spirit
of altruism.

Charity, or the giving of alms, has been from time immemo-
rial the most popular method of dealing with poverty. It
has taken the forms of public charity, or the help given thru
institutions or agencies under the control of the state or any
of its branches, and of private charity, or the help given by
individuals or groups of individuals independent of the author-
ity of the state.

We find the idea of charity highly developed in the philoso-
phy of India, China, and Judea. The religions of these coun-
tries, especially Brahmanism and Buddhism, advanced charity
as one of the roads towards salvation. In India the Brahman
holy men depend upon alms for a living and it is a part of
the Brahman religious code to give to them. So much has
this been stressed that the so-called "holy men" are a nuisance
in India and thousands of impostors find thereby an easy
way to make a living. Charity was developed and organized
by the early Hebrew church. Christianity took it up and
carried it on to a still greater extension than Judaism. With
savages we do not as a rule find charity very highly devel-
oped for among them the weak are despised and helped only

395

396 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

because of the personal sympathy of relatives or friends;
but among the really advanced peoples, especially those having
highly organized religions, such as the Aztecs of Mexico and
the Incas of Peru, we find the systems of relief of the poor
quite highly developed. As we study the people who are
higher in the scale of civilization, we find an increase in the
spirit of altruism; one of the forms which this has taken is
charity. Altho we find exceptions, this was not as a rule
public charity, or aid by the state, but private charity, and
was left largely to the church, especially in the case of the
Christian church. In Athens a poor tax was levied and col-
lected, but Athens was an exceptionally highly developed com-
munity. Rome in the period of the Empire spent vast sums,
amounting to millions of dollars each year, in feeding the
poor. At the time of Augustus 320,000 persons received grants
of corn or other aid from the state, and it is estimated that
Nero gave away during his reign nearly $100,000,000.00 from
the public treasury to the people for food. The Roman popu-
lace was not only fed at public expense but even amused. All
this was not done, however, from any motives of altruism.
In Rome the people were divided into patricians, or the
wealthy, and the plebians, or the poor. At first the patricians
ruled and took all the spoils of their conquests, but later
the plebians gained a voice in the government and came to
be feared. In order to keep them from revolting and over-
throwing the patricians the rulers began to help feed them,
at first by keeping down prices, then by giving corn, and
later by adding to the corn oil and wine. When the problem
of keeping the people quiet. and contented became so great
that the circuses and gladiatorial contests were instituted to
amuse them. The politicians vied with each other in lavish-
ness of gifts in order to gain the votes of the people, both
before election and after being put into office. This giving,
which eventually all came out of the public coffers, probably
exceeded the amounts contributed directly to the support of
the people. These politicians not only recuperated themselves
after getting office but also took the opportunity of filling their
pockets besides, till it came to be the custom for a consul,
upon being given his province after retirement, to consider
this his opportunity to recoup himself. In the one year that
he held the province he had to make three fortunes; first
one to pay off the debts he had incurred getting into office;
second, one to pay off all law suits after he got out; and

TREATMENT OF POVERTY 397

third, enuf to keep himself in luxury the rest of his life. So
there was very little charity or altruism in the giving of the
Roman state.

The Catholic Church with its growth assumed more and
more the responsibility of caring for the poor and afflicted.
Orders of nuns and monks were instituted with this motive
in view. The church did heroic work in this way. But the
whole attitude was that of relief of distress, not of preven-
tion of poverty. It sought to relieve suffering without
attempting to remove its causes, perhaps seldom thinking that
it could be done. The church gave alms, cared for children,
relieved sickness, and tried in general to alleviate distress.
But instead of removing it, the church probably increased
poverty. The conditions causing poverty were at work pro-
ducing more poverty, and the very fact that they could get
alms was a great inducement for the people not to struggle
against adversity but to accept these alms. This work of
the church in taking charge of poverty continued until the
time of the Reformation, when the Catholic Church began
to break up into sects and when matters of theology began
to gain the attention of the church rather than relief of suf-
fering. Then it had to surrender a great part of this work
to the state. The church has always kept the principle of
charity as one of its fundamental principles, but its impor-
tance in this respect has dwindled. In some ways this is to
be regretted; yet on the other hand the church never handled
the matter competently, probably causing more poverty by
indiscriminate giving than it relieved. The theory of the
church was that the more one gave the greater would be
the reward in heaven.

Charity Taken Over by the State. — At first pauperism
was treated as a crime. Before the time of the Reformation
the laws in regard to poverty were revolting in their severity,
flogging and branding being the punishment for begging; the
indigent and miserable were left entirely to the care of the
church. But with the coming of the Reformation, when the
church split up into sects, it was impossible for this function
to be performed, and to supply this need poor laws were
introduced thruout Europe during the sixteenth century, and
there grew up the recognition of the responsibility of the com-
munity to look after its poor rather than to leave them to
the church. This work was generally left to the town councils.

At Hamburg as early as 1529 directions were published

398 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

for the guidance of the overseers: "to visit the houses in their
respective districts once every month, in order to make them-
selves acquainted with the circumstances of the poor; to pro-
vide employment for those who were able to work, to lend
money without interest to those who were honest, and could
with little assistance maintain an independent position and
lastly to grant permanent relief to the disabled and sick".1

In 1531 Emperor Charles V "directed that collections to
be made thruout the Netherlands for the settled poor — the
idlers and rogues to be set to work; poor women and children
provided for; the latter put to school, and afterwards placed
out in service and trade".1

The law of the German Empire of 1577 compelled parishes
•'to support their own poor, send away stragglers, and provide
accommodation for the sick". In fact there sprang up over
Northern Europe the general idea that each locality should
make provisions for three classes of poor — the vagrant, the
impotent, and the able-bodied out of work. Sometimes this
was made compulsory and sometimes only suggestions were
made. England furnishes us the best example of these laws.

English Poor Laws, 1601-1834. — Until 1601 there was
no relief policy in England worthy of the name. The laws
hitherto were against the poor and the rights of labor. The
laborer was reduced to a condition of servitude; he was con-
fined to his place of birth and compelled to work for fixed
wages. These were set by law, and sometimes by justices who
were themselves employers of labor. . They were determined
by the wages of the previous five or six years or by the price
of foodstuffs. If the laborer wandered around in search of
work at the highest possible price, he was liable to barbarous
punishments, such as whipping, branding, burning or cropping
the ears, the pillory, imprisonment, and even death itself.

The law of 1601, which was a compilation of a series of
previous measures, provided for the appointment of two or
three overseers in each parish, whose duty it was to raise a
poor rate by subscription or by taxation. Then if a person
could not make a living, what he lacked was supplied out
of the poor rate. It was thus a system of public charity with
ample opportunity for abuse. If a man was out of work,
the parish tried to provide work, even to the point of selling
the labor of the pauper and making up the balance. Some-

'Fowle, T. W., "Poor Law", pp. 22-23.
*Fowle, T. W., "Poor Law", p. 23.

TREATMENT OF POVERTY 399

times the man would be paid if he applied for work — a pro-
cedure which led to the practice of walking the "rounds" and
to that of farmer's certifying that so-and-so had called. Some-
times farmers were compelled to employ the paupers, thus
being forced to discharge their regular hands. This law gave
the employers the inducement to lower wages; this the fac-
tory owners and other employers did, for the deficit would
be made up from the poor rate so that the workers might
receive the same. Of course the poor rates became oppres-
sive, amounting finally to over $30,000,000.00 a year in
England, which then had a population of only 11,000,000;
moreover money was much more valuable then than it is
today. Rates became so high that it was hard to find tenants
for farms, the rates often amounting to as much as five dol-
lars an acre. As a result the rate payer became worse off
than the pauper. The poor laborer was in a more deplorable
condition for he had to work harder for lower wages and
was in constant danger of being replaced by paupers. If
one was industrious and saved, he received no work; so it
was foolish to work hard; in fact many couples left home
in order to live in the workhouse — where little work was
required. All industry became disorganized. Better wages
were frequently refused for fear of losing one's settlement,
and there was a general deterioration in industry and in morals.
In the almshouses the inmates were well fed but they lived
in idleness, having nothing to take up their minds.

This condition became intolerable; so in 1833 a Poor Law
Commission was appointed, which drew up the act adopted
by Parliament in the following year, and extended to Ireland
in 1838 and to Scotland in 1845. The principal features of
this act were the abandonment of the policy of relief to able-
bodied persons and the substitution of the celebrated "work-
house test", by means of which relief to be given to the able-
bodied only in well-regulated workhouses, where work was
required of all. Unions or parishes were formed to build and
operate these workhouses. They were uninviting and the
relief given was such as only the destitute would accept. The
commission thot that they had settled the question forever,
for in this way they intended to aid only the worthy poor.
But the system became too hardened and the problem of
poverty became so great that towards the end of the nineteenth
century great dissatisfaction arose over its failure to meet the

400 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

problem; as a result the present system of social insurance
was adopted in the early part of the twentieth century.

American Treatment of Poverty. — The American sys-
tem has centered around the almshouse, but it is to be doubted
if any other institution needs reform so much as the American
poor-farm, for it is an institution that has been sadly neglected.
It has served as a catchall for every class: the worthy poor,
the feeble-minded, the insane, the epileptic, drunkards, pros-
titutes, all classes, in fact, from the able-bodied to the help-
less; from the hard-working man or woman who has lived
an honorable, upright life, but who is broken down in old age,
to the drunken, immoral wreck who has done nothing but
squander his or her talents; from the orphan to the hardened,
vulgar, dissolute, criminal, neer-do-well — all these are gen-
erally indiscriminately thrown together. These almshouses,
except those in the states of Maine, Vermont, Massachusetts,
Rhode Island, and Connecticut, are under the control of the
county authorities. Since 1890 there has been a tendency
to consolidate the smaller ones, and some hundreds of them
have been so consolidated. Also in recent years there has
been a tendency to remove many classes from the almshouse
who do not belong there. Among these are the feeble-minded,
deaf and dumb, blind, insane, and epileptic.

The almshouse method has passed thru four different stages,
as follows:

(1). Before the erection of any special building, when
the paupers were boarded out or sometimes farmed out to
the lowest bidder.

(2). When some old cottage or farm house would be
purchased. This would serve as a catchall for old, infirm,
insane, epileptic, or idiotic persons and for abandoned chil-
dren, foundlings, etc. Here they received little attention, with
the exception of grumbling over the expense they caused. The
whole aim was economy and the running of the place was
generally given to the lowest bidder.

(3). The opposite extreme was a magnificent structure,
imposing from the outside (nobody went inside), but erected
with no regard for comfort, being usually four or five stories
high, built with the same number of rooms for women as
for men, altho men outnumber the women two or three to
one. The writer well remembers a visit to such a poor-farm
in LaFayette County, Missouri.

The cottage plan, the houses being sometimes con-

TREATMENT Of POVERTY 401

nected by passages. This plan allows separation of. the sexes
and provides for the different classes of inmates, and also for
separate hospital cottages. This is the modern almshouse.
This is the best plan, especially if enuf land is provided for
the few able to work to keep busy in gardening and similar
work.

Our almshouses in the past have been conducted in a deplor-
able manner; the inmates have been neglected and even at
times abused. Generally they have been poorly fed, poorly
clad, and badly housed, to say nothing of being deprived of
the comforts of life. One has only to turn to the accounts
of Professor Ellwood1 in his investigation of Missouri alms-
houses to get a picture of the American almshouse.

But when we consider the difficulties of running the aims-
house, such as (1) the lack of money, meaning for the super-
intendent pay which of course would attract only inefficient
men; (2) the class of inmates; the riff-raff and scum, the
inefficient, the half-witted, and the crazy; (3) the stolid,
unsympathetic temperament of the inefficient person who would
be attracted to or be willing to accept the position of super-
intendent, and (4) the bad temper and unappreciativeness
of the inmates — an attitude that would try the patience of
the most sympathetic, it is no wonder that we have such
miserable conditions. All difficulties were exaggerated when
the lease system would be employed, for then a premium
would be put upon negligence and stinginess. The manage-
ment of the almshouse does not matter so much when the
inmates are old, for death will soon relieve the unfortunates,
but it blasts the whole life of the child inmates, for the neglect,
ill treatment, and horrible environment kills all the good quali-
ties and sends the person away destined to return later as
an inmate. While this condition is slowly being remedied
by the removal of many classes from the almshouse and the
better care of those remaining there, this is a matter which
needs our attention probably more than any other phase
of our relief policy. Professor Ellwood recommends three
lines of work: (1) visitation of the local board; (2) inspec-
tion by state authorities, and (3) mandatory and prohibitive
legislation. Even at the best it is no easy matter to run
an almshouse, considering the class of inmates. Then it
is very difficult to find suitable work for all; but the inmates
must be kept occupied to be contented. This problem requires

, Charles A., Bulletin on "Almshouses in Missouri".

402 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

tact and ability, far more in fact than will be found in the
average person willing to undertake such work.

Other Relief Institutions. — Another class which has to
be considered here is that of the children. There always have
been and probably always will be orphan and dependent chil-
dren. They were formerly one of the sources from which the
ranks of slavery were recruited. The church, especially the
Roman Catholic Church, when it was at the height of its
power, took care of these in the nunneries and monasteries
and in orphan and foundling asylums. They did this not
from reasons of philanthrophy and altruism but to win recruits.
Foundling asylums are ancient institutions and have always
been very numerous in France, where the need of them because
of the widespread immorality has always been very great.
There any one could, as a rule, leave a child with no questions
asked, provisions being frequently made to drop the child
into a basket specially placed for the purpose. The foundling
asylums were often supported by the state, as were the orphan
asylums, and were frequently mismanaged, as Dickens shows
us in the picture he paints in Oliver Twist of the life in the
English orphan asylum. In England the labor of orphans
was sold to the factories, as we noticed under child labor.
In fact the abuses in the past have been terrible. The death-
rate in the foundling asylums has been at times almost unbe-
lievable, running even as high as 97 per cent. This situa-
tion is unavoidable to some extent, because of the condition
of the children upon admission; they have been poorly nour-
ished and have received practically no care in many cases,
and often have been injured by efforts to kill them before
birth or to prevent conception. Yet when the babies are
properly cared for, the death-rate falls to almost normal, or
at least somewhere near it. The ignorance and neglect of
the attendants make it much higher than it otherwise would
be. As a rule they take no interest in the child except to
cause it to make as little trouble as possible, often using
opiates to quiet it. They do not care whether the child
lives or not; in fact nobody cares. Considering the class from
which these children come and the future before them, the
question often arises whether a high death rate is wholly
bad in the end, not only for the public but for the child itself.
Another cause of the abnormally high death rate is the very
fact that babies cannot be reared by wholesale but require
individual attention and affection, even if other conditions,

TREATMENT OF POVERTY 403

such as sunlight, air, food, and clothing are good. The child
misses the advantage of breast feeding, altho this lack is
sometimes overcome by boarding it out with a wet nurse —
a procedure followed by the New York State Charities Aid
Association with children under six months of age. By the
careful boarding out of foundlings received from the Chari-
ties Aid Societies in Manhattan, Bronx, and Brooklyn, the
death rate was reduced from 59.9 per cent in 1898 to 11.6
per cent in 1906. In Massachusetts the practice of boarding
out is carried on as far as possible with a careful selection of
homes. After the child grows up, he is subject to grave
abuses, being often brutally treated not only in the institu-
tion but in the home where he or she is placed. Where the
system of placing out is used it has to be supplemented by
careful selection of families and rigid, frequent inspection after-
wards to see that the child is properly treated.

While institutional care for children has its advantages,
such as adequate food supply, sufficient clothes, a warm place
in which to sleep, regular schooling, and protection from dan-
ger, (when it provides these comforts), they are more than
outweighed by the disadvantages. Often the child is mal-
treated by hard hearted and unsympathetic attendants and
by those in authority. Not only is the rate of mortality
high, but the discipline is demoralizing to the child that sur-
vives ; even when the discipline is not harsh, the system makes
a machine rather than a man of him. The child does not
learn how to do the ordinary things of life, such as to use
matches and to care for fire, for such matters of routine are
all done by attendants. At home the child learns to do all
these and requires some sense of responsibility. Institutional
care weakens the will power, which can only be developed
by exercise. The children learn too easily to submit to rule,
to discomfort or pain. Attendants are employed who have
institutional experience, persons who are thus able to suppress
the children with the minimum of trouble, who remember
that the more suppressed the child is the less it will object.
As a result the child comes out of the institution with no idea
of helping another, no conception of the value of money or
of domestic economics; it does not develop independence or
a sense of responsibility, so is seldom able to form sound judg-
ments. In fact institutional life ruins for leadership. This
tendency is overcome in some "institutions by a system of
self-government; probably the most famous of the institutions

404 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

using such methods being the George Junior Republic. The
Massachusetts system is likewise a good one. This is a com-
bination plan, in which about 40 per cent of the children,
mostly the young ones, are boarded out, about 45 per cent
placed in families, and only about 15 per cent cared for in
institutions. Placing in private institutions is used sometimes
but it is, as a general rule, bad, for it subsidizes private insti-
tutions and too often stops philanthrophy, even if it does not
lead, to graft; moreover the treatment is not always the best.

The best principles to follow should include if possible an
attempt to repair the breaches and defects of the home before
breaking up the family relation, and then to use institutional
care only as a temporary expedient and for such classes as
the .deaf, the' feeble-minded, deformed, incurable, and delin-
quent children, for whom it is generally necessary. A selected
family, chosen with great care and visited under a system
of careful supervision, is the best substitute for the old home.
There is also a growing demand for supervision of private
institutions. Small institutions are at a disadvantage because
of the cost of placing out and the consequent supervision.

Another line of relief work demanding institutional treat-
ment is the care of the destitute sick. In the past thirty or
forty years the attitude towards hospitals has changed; they
are now regarded no longer as places in which to die but as
places in which to get well. The idea has also prevailed that
the poor man who is not able to pay anything should receive
the same treatment that the rich receive at home. As a
result of an attempt to bring about these two conditions the
cost of hospital service nearly doubled between 1870 and 1910,
on account of increase in the cost of food, better care and
accommodations, and higher pay to nurses. Of the money
which it took to maintain the hospitals of the United States
in 1903, 18.1 per cent was paid by annual subsidies from
public funds; 43.2 per cent was met by pay patients, and the
remainder was obtained from charity. These hospitals treated
1,064,512 patients in 1903, or 1.3 per cent of the population.
In 1910 there were 1918 such institutions — those run for pri-
vate profit being omitted, and they treated 1,953,309 patients
or 2.1 per cent of the population. Altho the number of hos-
pitals and their facilities are increasing there are not yet enuf
of them. Some of the motives leading to the development of
medical charities have been the following:1 (1) the desire to

'First four motives taken from Warner, "American Charities", second edition
(1908), p. 304.

TREATMENT OF POVERTY 405

aid the destitute; (2) zeal to advertise a religious faith; (3) the
ambition to educate students and build up medical reputations ;
(4) the wish to protect the public health against infection and
contagion; (5) the economic motive to restore to self-support
and thus save loss of wages. This latter has prompted corpora-
tions to provide hospitals for their workers.

Two types of hospitals appear in the United States:1

(1). The municipal, developed from the almshouse or city
jail, where it originated in the attempt to treat the patients
there. While such a hospital is liable to political misman-
agement (the past has shown much graft and poor manage-
ment), these conditions are rapidly being done away with
and this country has many efficient city hospitals.

(2). Corporate, generally managed by an unsalaried board
composed of prominent citizens, ministers, business men, and
philanthropists. Tho such men often know nothing about
methods of running a hospital, the efficiency of these institu-
tions is constantly increasing. The death-rate in hospitals
has decreased tremendously in the past thirty years, especially
in the free city hospitals; this decrease is due largely to the
greater efficiency of the nurses, obtained thru the establish-
ment of nursing schools, and by the use of civil service exam-
inations in the appointment of nurses, whereas nursing was
formerly done to a great extent by inmates of the almshouses
and houses of correction.

We should add to the discussion of hospitals notice of the
increase and spread in usefulness of the dispensaries in the
United States. The most of these charge a small fee for
medicines for those who are able to pay. These dispensaries
aid people who are down and out, those who are in need of
medical attention but cannot afford to go to a physician; also
those who can afford to pay a small sum for medicines and
treatment but who cannot pay the two or three dollars
demanded by most physicians, who at that generally give a
prescription which costs another dollar or two to get filled.
These supplemented by the district and visiting nurses, help
the sick in their own homes and — what is still more impor-
tant — try to prevent sickness or at least check it before it
has reached a serious stage. In 1910 there were nearly 600
dispensaries, of which less than half were connected with hos-
pitals, and in which two and one-half million persons were

'First four moti 'es taken from Warner, Amos G;, "American Charities", second
edition, (1908), pp. 306-7.

406 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

treated. The number of clinics, especially those for children,
mentally defective and the tubercular has greatly increased
since 1910.

Special hospitals for certain diseases and homes for the
incurable are further extensions of this work of medical relief.
While rapidly increasing this line work can be greatly
increased. It is in line with the modern theory of the preven-
tion of poverty. Dental dispensaries are among the latest
developments. The United Charities of Chicago maintains
two such for the poor; in 1915 these performed 3,718 dental
operations at an average cost of six and one-half cents.

Homes for the aged are also increasing; a system of old
age pensions is, however, in all likelihood the best way of
dealing with this problem, provided the system is made con-
tributory, for this plan will compel people to provide for old
age and will enable them to maintain their own homes and
not become dependent upon charity.

Outdoor Relief. — In addition to the indoor relief given
in the various institutions outdoor relief, or relief given the
poor in their homes, other than medical, has been used a great
deal in the past. This is not done as much today as formerly
except thru visiting nurses, probation officers, and the like,
who work towards the removing of the conditions which cause
the poverty rather than towards alleviating the misery; not
to aid the person because that person is poor, but to help
lift him out of his condition or prevent his falling below the
poverty line. The old method of doling out a few dollars
or some groceries is not used so much now as formerly, largely
because of the abuses attendant in the past, especially in the
large Eastern cities. When this method is followed it is used
only as partial aid or as temporary relief.

There are arguments in favor of retaining outdoor relief,
such as:1

(1). It is the natural method and is thus really a contin-
uance of the spirit of neighborliness. It does not break up
the family or separate persons from friends and neighbors.
The disgrace is less because the help is less conspicuous, altho
this is not always an advantage; it is sometimes desirable
to separate from neighbors, occasionally even from relatives.

(2). It is argued that it is more economical, for most
families can almost make a living and hence it is folly to
break up the family and thus increase expense. Yet on the

'Warner, Amos G., "American Charities", (third edition, 1918), pp. 208-209.

TREATMENT OP" POVERTY 407

/

other hand the number of persons helped will grow and the
total cost may even increase, because otherwise many families
would keep going themselves.

(3). One of the strongest arguments is the fact that there
are not institutions enuf and the consequent fact that greater
equipment would thus be demanded. It would be uneco-
nomical to meet these demands, for the amount of poverty
fluctuates with the seasons and with prosperity. Buildings
sufficient to meet all demands would be empty most of the
time.

(4). Individual private charity, the alternative of public
outdoor relief, is uncertain and unreliable, depending upon
emotion, sentiment and prosperity. When it would be needed
the most it would be least forthcoming, as was evidenced in
the winter of 1914-15, when the charity organizations all over
the country were hardest pressed for aid and when necessary
funds were least forthcoming because of the hard times. Also
under individual private charities relief is liable to be dupli-
cated.

Against such arguments are raised the following:1

(1). Except in small communities there can be no real
inspection or supervision and no chance for investigation or
discrimination. The policy generally followed is to make it
as difficult as possible to get relief; the actual result is that
those who need it get disgusted and only the unworthy receive
it. Relief thus becomes mechanical and has no sympathetic
touch.

(2). Because of the pleasant form of relief if the above
was not carried out the number of paupers would be increased.
There would be less incentive to save, for the state could
always be depended upon. This increase would more than
make up for all the saving in helping in the home.

(3). Such a relief policy would lead to political corrup-
tion, such as occurred in Rome. This situation is much more
important in the cities, especially the large ones, but is found
even in the small towns. Giving is done to gain favor and
to advance personal aims, and also to gain votes.

(4). If such relief is lavish it results in a reduction in
wages, for employers know that the deficiency in wages will
be made up out of public relief. This was the result of
lavish giving in England.

(5). And what is perhaps the most important of all, it

Warner, Amos G., "American Charities", (third edition, 1918), pp. 209-210.

408 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

would destroy thrift and self-respect. For why should any-
one work when the public treasury is open? People would
receive help or ask for it because their neighbors did the same.

The whole matter simmers down to a question of admin-
istration. As a rule outdoor relief is generally preferred only
in small towns and rural communities, except in cases of
special classes of defectives, who can be better cared for in
institutions. On the other hand indoor relief is preferred
in large cities, except as partial or temporary relief may be
given otherwise.

Charity Organization. — The alternative to public relief,
instead of being indiscriminate private relief, is organized
charity. The movement towards organization began in
Europe, where it was early found in the principal cities, such
as Paris, Berlin, and Vienna. This occurred about the middle
of the past century. The movement spread to England and
America, and was first adopted in the United States in 1877,
when the Buffalo Society of Charity Organization was estab-
lished. Since then it has spread to nearly all our cities and
is now being adopted by individual counties. This is done
to avoid duplication, to divide up the work so as to cover
all needs, and to see that each endeavor has its share of funds.
Such a plan not only prevents overlapping, but helps stamp
out imposters. Co-operation is obtained thru the compari-
son of records kept in a central office equipped with card cata-
logues, etc. Prompt relief can be obtained by bringing the
case to the attention of the proper authorities. Better results
are secured also in the collection of funds thru co-operation.
This work is now being supplemented by endorsement com-
mittees generally appointed by the commercial associations
or chambers of commerce, who investigate the different char-
itable organizations and require them to conduct their affairs
in accordance with business principles, to spend their funds
wisely, and to see also that there is a real need. Then there
is usually coupled with this some method of raising funds
by tag-day, assessment, or general subscription. In this way
those willing to contribute know where their money goes
and how it is spent; therefore they respond much more lib-
erally. This whole charity organization is really the conduct-
ing of charity in accordance with business methods. It has
its failings as well as advantages, for relief is too often mechan-
ical; besides too much system and red-tape are frequently
employed. The endorsement committees are often composed
of business men who are not familiar with charity work and

TREATMENT OF POVERTY 409

the needs of the community, and so they are not always com-
petent persons to pass upon charity matters. In general, how-
ever, this plan of organization enables much more efficient
work to be done and much greater undertakings to be carried
thru. On the whole it is a great improvement in indiscrimi-
nate private giving and unorganized charity. It also is able
to give to some extent the personal touch and to use the dis-
crimination which public charity is rarely capable of giving.
Under this system charity cannot be claimed as a right the
same as is done in many cases with public relief. It, however,
is not always able to meet a great calamity or crisis when
it arises, because when a crisis arises the difficulty of raising
funds also increases. But on the whole, organized private
charity is today our best method of dealing with the relief
problem.

The Elberfeld System. — A system of relief and charity
organization known sometimes as the Hamburg-Elberfeld,
because it originated in Hamburg and was developed to its
present high state in Elberfeld, Germany, but more commonly
called the Elberfeld system, has not only been generally
adopted thruout Europe, but has been recognized as one of
the best, if not the best, relief system ever devised. It started
in Hamburg about 1765 at a time when a vast amount of
poverty and misery was present in Europe, when the streets
of Hamburg were lined with beggars, and when thousands
were asking for aid, having been attracted there because of
the great prosperity of that place. The scheme was presented
by a certain Professor Bush; it divided the city into districts,
over each of which an overseer was appointed. The over-
seers reported to a central office. Giving to beggars was
forbidden, an industrial school for children was established,
and a hospital provided ; but most important of all — the poor
were taught to help themselves. The system ridded Hamburg
of the beggars and relieved the poverty situation; later, how-
ever, it was abandoned. It was revived in Elberfeld with
some modifications in 1852. There it works as follows: The
city is divided into districts, over each of which an overseer,
or almoner, as he is called, is appointed, who looks after the
poor cases in his district, and who also has general oversight
over conditions. This almoner is unpaid and the service is
compulsory, or rather if it is not done an extra rate is imposed
upon the person and he loses his voting privilege for a period
of years. But as the office is considered a stepping stone

410 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

to political preferment, few people object to the work, and
very able people accept it. Then since the districts are so
small that never more than four cases and seldom more than
one or two are given to each almoner, the service is personal
and intimate and takes the form of true neighborliness.
Because of the patriotic interest in it the work is done very
efficiently. These small districts are included in larger dis-
tricts; the almoners meet fortnightly, and the chairmen of
these meetings report to a central committee of nine, which
has charge of the relief system of the whole city. This cen-
tral committee includes a trained paid administrator and paid
assistants. It prepares instructions for the district leaders
and the visitors, divides up the work, appoints the visitors,
supervises the hospitals, investigates causes of poverty, init-
iates legislation and institutes other measures of amelioration.

The success of the scheme is shown by the fact that the
population of Elberfeld increased from 50,000 in 1852 to
162,000 in 1904, whereas the number of those receiving either
temporary or permanent help increased only from 4,000 to
7,689, or a decrease of from 8 to 4.7 per cent of the popula-
tion. The cost of relief for each person in 1852 was eighty-
nine cents and in 1904 eighty-eight cents — a great reduc-
tion when we take into consideration the increase in amount
of wealth and the fall in the value of money. While this
system has not been adopted to any great extent in America,
it offers us many valuable suggestions; with some changes
made to fit the conditions in this country it might be extremely
valuable and helpful in handling the question of poor relief,
especially in smaller cities.

Public vs. Private Relief. — A great deal of discussion
has arisen over the advantages and disadvantages of the two
plans of relief — public and private. Much could be said in
favor of each. It might be laid down as a general principle
that for new lines of work, involving experimentation and
exploration of a new field, private charity is better. Then
when the public is educated to the need of a definite plan
of action, when the work has reached such a stage of devel-
opment that it can be systematized, and when the need is
more or less permanent, it is better to turn the task over
to public authorities. As a rule private charity is much
more easily directed to something that is new, but after the
work becomes familiar, interest is apt to die out. On the
other hand, public authorities are not so well fitted to carry

TREATMENT OF POVERTY 411

on new work, but because of the permanent need it is better
fitted to carry on old lines of work. When a certain type
of work is needed and demanded by the public, it is only
fair and just that the public should be asked to carry the
burden and not to leave to a few the carrying of the work
which is public in nature. In this way both public and private
charity can go hand in hand and not be antagonistic. Pri-
vate charity is good in that it encourages altruism and allows
those who are able to relieve the sufferings of those who are
less fortunate. Then public charity is necessary for the
reason that there are lines of work which involve great expense,
but work which cannot be permitted to be dropped or crip-
pled in any way.

The Trend of Modern Charity. — Former ages accepted
poverty, misery, distress, incapacity, and industrial slavery
as inevitable and so allowed the unfortunate to suffer in
silence and as a rule tried not to notice the suffering and
wretchedness but to keep away from it; like the priest and
Levite they passed by on the other side of the road. Now
we recognize that not only can poverty, disease, and misery
be done away with, but that they must be eliminated; that
unless we stop them we shall be engulfed by the degenerate
classes. While some charity workers are too busy picking
up those who have fallen off the cliff to stop to build a fence
at the top, others are building fences and trying to prevent
people from falling. In other words, prevention is the key-
word of all future charitable work. Help those who need
relief but still more try to put them upon their feet so that
they will not need help in the future. Then what is still
more important, remove the causes of poverty and prevent
others from falling below the poverty line; lock the stable
door before the horse is stolen. If low wages cause poverty,
adopt a minimum wage schedule. If intemperance is the
cause, work for prohibition. If bad sanitation is the cause,
put in sewers and better plumbing. If bad housing condi-
tions are the cause, adopt a better building code and see that
unsanitary houses are not occupied. Alleviate present pov-
erty, but see that the conditions which caused it are removed.

Program for the Future Prevention of Poverty. — In
our enumeration of the causes of poverty we took up in most
cases the measures to cure them. In addition to such meas-
ures the hope of the future lies along the following lines:

1. The advancement and continuance of all movements

412 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

which try to prevent or remove bad conditions, such as those
working for better housing, pure milk, better sanitation, the
draining of swamps, disposal of garbage, irrigation, and the
prevention and cure of disease; such institutions as the Rocke-
feller foundation, which has among its various objects the
search for cures of diseases; tuberculosis sanitariums; schools
for the feeble-minded, blind, deaf, and epileptic; the building
of hospitals and the spread of their usefulness; the establish-
ment of free dispensaries; the extension of the work of visit-
ing nurses and probation officers; the establishment of classes
to teach girls how to cook, the building of social settlements;
and all like methods of removing the conditions in society that
produce poverty.

2. The removing of causes of the conditions producing
poverty by such measures as the prevention of industrial acci-
dents thru compelling employers to use the best safety devices
in their factories and workshops; the adoption of minimum
wage schedules, thus eliminating low wages; the improvement
of court and penal systems so as to give the poor man a fair
chance; the instituting of such devices as the public defender,
to give the poor person a chance to obtain a square deal:
the removal of defects in the government and elimination of
graft from politics and political management; the improve-
ment of our educational methods, so as to fit the person for
life, especially in the way of manual training, domestic science,
and trade instruction ; the enforcement of prohibition ; attempt-
ing to remove ignorance, and as far as possible to eliminate
inefficiency. In brief, improve our institutions so that they
will function more efficiently.

3. Remedying of the defects of our industrial and business
situation by trying to bridge the gaps; trying to make capital
and labor work more harmoniously together; curbing the exces-
sive profits of monopolies; removing the tremendous waste
now existing between the production and consumption of com-
modities by squeezing out the middlemen, and by advancing
co-operative enterprises, which are so successful in Europe;
the prevention of panics, crises, and financial flurries; the put-
ting of business upon a more uniform and stable foundation;
the advancement of all methods of enabling the worker to
produce more or to become more efficient, as the trade school;
the shortening of the working day; the increase of wages
thru collective bargainifcg; and the preventing the young from
"blind alley" trades. In short the thing to do is to make the

TREATMENT OF POVERTY 413

worker to fit better into the industrial scheme and to make
the industrial scheme adjust itself better to him, thus making
it possible for him to produce more and to receive a larger
share of the return from industry.

4. The advance of social insurance, such as sickness and
accident insurance, and unemployment insurance, including
a competent system of public free employment bureaus and
municipal lodging houses in connection. These should all
be compulsory and contributory and the insurance systems
should be supported by the employers, employees, and the
state. These insurance systems are possibly a trifle advanced
for this country and it would not probably be wise to insti-
tute such system till the public has been educated to an appre-
ciation of their need. All these schemes work well in Europe
and the labor bureau worked well during the few months that
we had it during the war. The need of social insurance has
been greater in Europe than in the United States and the public
has learned to appreciate them. It will be only a question
of time till we will be able to see the need of them and will
have reached a plane of governmental management where we
can carry on such a program.

While poverty can never be abolished entirely, it can be
eliminated as the great overshadowing problem that it is today.
There will always be those who cannot stand on their own
feet, no matter how many opportunities that they have; but
we can bring about such a state of affairs that those who will
can have the opportunity not only of maintaining themselves
but of bettering their position. At least we ought to have
such a stage of advancement that anyone who is able-bodied,
fairly efficient, and equipped with normal intellect will be able
not only to support himself but to bring into the world a suc-
ceeding generation which will have equally good opportunities.

READING REFERENCES

WARNER, A. G., American Charities, Parts II, III and IV.

DEVINE, E. T., Principles of Relief.

HENDERSON, C. R., Modern Methods of Charity.

PARMELEE, MAURICE, Poverty and Social Progress, Part III.

HOLLANDER, J. H., Abolition of Poverty.

STREIGHTOIT, F. H., Standard of Living Among Industrial Workers of

America.

FOWLE, F. W., rhe Poor Law.
SMITH, S. G., Social Pathology, pp. 41-130.

414 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

WEBB, S. AND B., Prevention oj Destitution.
MANGOLD, C. B., Problems oj Child Welfare.
RUBINOW, I. M., Social Insurance.
LEAKE, A. H., Industrial Education.
KING, W. L. M., Industry and Humanity.

-

CHAPTER XXI
CRIME

The second great problem of maladjustment confronting
society is that of crime. It is vitally connected with poverty
and goes hand in hand with it. Poverty produces and is the
product of crime. Also the different conditions of crime are
interwoven with like conditions of poverty. When we touch
one we generally find the other. By this we by no means
suggest that the poor are more apt to be criminal than the
rich, but that poverty produces crime and crime produces
poverty and that both are products of similar conditions.

What Is Crime? — Crime is the violation of a law and is
not necessarily wrong-doing, altho it usually is. An act may
be evil and yet not criminal, because it may violate no law.
Again an act may be moral and altruistic and yet criminal,
even punishable with death. A criminal is one who breaks
a law; he is not necessarily an evil-doer. He is frequently
a benefactor of mankind; such examples may be given as
Socrates, Huss, and Christ, all of whom were executed as
criminals. On the other hand, some of the world's greatest
malefactors have escaped the taint of being criminals, for
they violated no law. Yet while crime is primarily a legal
matter, it has its social bearing, for laws are the result of
public opinion, and a thing cannot be considered a crime
unless society puts a stamp of disapproval upon the action.
So a crime is an act that society has condemned and upon
the committing of which society has put a penalty. Society
is, however, continually changing its mind in regard to what
it considers as harmful or advantageous. What is a crime
today may not be tomorrow, and what is legal today may be
a crime tomorrow; moreover, what is legal in the United States
may be a crime in Germany — formerly lese-majeste was an
example of this. Even what is a crime in Massachusetts may
not be in South Carolina, such as the employment of child
labor. So a crime differs with the time and place; yet it
depends upon public opinion for its existence. Many curious

415

416 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

examples may be given, such as driving with reins, once a
crime in Russia. Francis I in 1635 forbade printing in France
under penalty of the gallows; the lonians condemned to exile
those never seen to laugh; the Carthagenians killed the losing
general; Spain for a long time did likewise to a commander
who surrendered an army, and in accordance with this prin-
ciple the commander who made such a plucky defense at
Santiago against the Americans had to stand trial for his life
upon his return to Spain, and only because public sentiment
had changed did he escape with his life; by the Julian law
celibacy was a crime; and Sparta stripped and scourged her
confirmed bachelors in the market place in mid-winter.

Law generally distinguishes between major and minor
crimes; the former she calls felonies and the latter misde-
meanors; not only are punishments graded accordingly, but
society looks upon them in a different manner. Also special
privileges are accorded the person who commits a misdemeanor
which are not allowed to the felon.

Different Kinds of Criminals. — Many attempts have
been made to classify the criminal either biologically or psy-
chologically and many ingenious systems have been worked
out. None of these is perfect, and yet all are suggestive.
The following scheme is given for its sugge&iveness; it is
one of the best yet offered:

( 1 ) . Instinctive, or Born Criminal. — This class is very
small, furnishing probably not over five per cent of our crim-
inal population. The moral imbecile — if there is such a
person — is a good example of this type.

(2). Habitual criminal, a normal person with a tendency
to drift into crime, a tendency acquired because of his environ-
ment. This class includes the professional burglar and yegg-
man, who are ranked among the most desperate of criminals;
but the bulk of this group are weak persons who are not able
to resist the temptation and who are not strong enuf to change
their habits even if they so desire. In the past, society has
made it harder for them to reform because of its ostracism of
the man with a criminal record. It is estimated that the
habitual criminal forms from thirty to forty per cent of the
criminal population.

(3). The single offender, the person who commits a crime
from impulse or under the influence of anger or of liquor.
One of the greatest faults with our penal system in the past
has been that it has driven this type of person into the ranks

CRIME 417

of the habitual offender. These people are criminals more
in the legal than in the social sense, for very often the provo-
cation is so great that the act in itself might be very justi-
fiable from the moral or ethical standpoint. This class, it is
estimated, forms from thirty to fifty per cent of our prison
population; it is for this class that the indeterminate sentence,
probation, and parole are especially meant.

(4). Feeble-minded and Insane. — Such should never be
classified under the head of criminals, but unfortunately a
heavy percentage of our prison population belong to one or
the other of these two classes. As we shall see in a later
chapter, the feeble-minded fall easily into crime and make
up a large proportion of the inmates of our prisons and reform-
atories, especially the latter. While as a rule the insane are
sent to asylums, nevertheless some go to prison instead.
, Now the question comes up: Shall these different classes
be all treated alike, even when the offense is the same? Nat-
urally we say no, but then how we are going to draw the line
is another problem.

Extent of Crime. — As to the exact extent of crime we
have no trustworthy figures. We have statistics giving the
number of prisoners and the number convicted each year, but
these data give us no idea of the number of crimes com-
mitted, for many crimes are never detected and, even tho
the crimes may be discovered, many offenders are not caught.
Besides, many of those who are caught are freed by our courts,
even when guilty, thru some fault of the law or because of
the ability of the defendant's counsel. On the other hand,
sometimes the innocent are convicted. Many are also put
on probation or paroled; so prison statistics do not give us
accurate information on the subject. Because many persons
are convicted several times during the year the number con-
victed in a year is for this reason not a reliable means by
which to measure the extent of crime. In order to give some
idea of the size of our prison population a few figures are
necessary, but because of the futility and small value of such
statistics only a few will be given. In the 2,823 penal insti-
tutions in the United States there were on January 1, 1910,
112,881 persons serving .sentences, or about one-eighth of
one per cent of our population. Of these, 105,362 were males
and 6,136 females: 52,473 were native whites, 19,438 were
foreign whites, and 38,701 were colored, 24,974 were juvenile
delinquents serving sentences in juvenile reformatories. In

418 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

addition to these there should of course be added those serv-
ing paroles and those placed on probation. During the year
1910 there were 476,256 commitments to these penal institu-
tions, or about one-half of one per cent of our population.
This does not mean that only that number of persons are
convicted each year; in fact, it is estimated that at least
1,000,000 are convicted of some offense each year, and that
the difference is made up by persons who pay fines, escape
by new trials, are put on probation, die, or escape. The fact
that 1,000,000 persons are convicted does not mean that only
1,000,000 crimes are committed each year, for a vast number
of crimes are never detected, especially the minor offenses,
such as violation of city ordinances. It is possibly a good
thing that many of these escape detection, for the majority
of people commit such violations almost eveiy day of their
lives, sometimes consciously and sometimes unconsciously.
But unfortunately too many serious crimes go unpunished.
The Chicago Tribune has for years, with the help of the Asso-
ciated Press, kept a record of the number of homicides. These
run between six and ten thousand each year. Yet those com-
mitted to prison each year for homicide amount only to a
little over one- fourth of that number, being 2,444 for 1904,
as against 8,482 homicides. The rest are not caught, not
convicted if caught, die, or escape. The largest proportion
of these homicides occur in southern and western states, Texas
leading with about 1,000 each year. The fact that so many
crimes go unpunished, especially after the criminal is caught,
is a serious criticism of our legal procedure. Too many escape
conviction thru taking advantage of legal technicalities; in
fact the letter of the law is considered more than the spirit
of it. This we shall see to be one of the causes of crime, espe-
cially serious crime, and one of the special causes of the
increase of crime in the United States.

We often hear the question, Is crime on the increase? If
we examine prison statistics we quickly come to the conclu-
sion that it is, for in 1860 our prison population was only
19,086, or one prisoner to every 1647, and in 1910 our prison
population was 112,881, or one prisoner to every 801 of
the general population. Moreover, since 1860 we have adopted
probation and parole and have shortened sentences a great
deal. On the other hand we have added to the list of crimes,
having now a great many more acts punishable by imprison-
ment. Then in many localities we have increased our police

CRIME 419

efficiency. So it is extremely difficult to form any definite
opinion. There is no question about the increase in the num-
ber of petty crimes and misdemeanors, such as the breaking
of city ordinances, because of the tremendous increase in the
number of these laws. But when it comes to the serious
crimes like murder, arson, and burglary, we are not so certain.
The number increases of course, but whether or not in propor-
tion to the growth of population is the problem. Prison sta-
tistics for the past few years show an increase in these graver
offenses, but whether this is in part due to greater efficiency
in our methods of detection and conviction is a question;
without doubt it is owing partly to our faulty prison systems
in the past, as well as to the lack of fear of our courts.
Ellwood1 believes that the decrease in both grave and minor
crimes in England, which is a peculiarity of that country has
been due to their excellent prison system and to the quickness
and sureness of the English courts, which are a marvelous
contrast to our slow, clumsy, and inefficient courts.

Cost of Crime. — That the cost of crime to the United
States is tremendous goes without challenge, but as to exact
figures we have nothing definite; at best we have only esti-
mates. As to the probable expense to the government for,
court machinery, police protection, prisons, and general repres-
sion of crime, we can make a fairly good estimate. This is
generally placed around $200,000,000 a year, but to this
must be added the destruction to property, cost of protection
to individuals, and loss of time to the public at large — alto-
gether probably twice the amount of the actual governmental
cost. Mr. Eugene Smith,2 a New York lawyer, estimates that
there are about 250,000 dangerous criminals in the United
States, and that each costs the country about $1,600 annually,
or a total of about $400,000,000. This would make the whole
amount equal $600,000,000, the cost of our public school
system, or over one-half the value of our bumper wheat crop
of 1915. This estimate may, of course, be high; yet the
cost of crime is tremendous in this country, probably not so
great as that of poverty, yet an amount well worthy of our
attention. A study of this problem would not be a study
unless we took up the causes of it; so we shall now try to
find out what creates this problem.

Causes of Crime. — As with poverty we shall find that
the causes of crime are interlocking and cumulative, and also
difficult to separate and study, altho they are easier to trace

1Ellwood, Charles A., "Sociology and Modern Social Problem", p. 319.
"Paper read before the National Prison Association in 1900.

420 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

than those of poverty. We shall study these likewise accord-
ing to objective causes, or those outside the individual, and
subjectives, or those inside the individual. We might also
suggest three conditions of crime: (1) motive for the crime;
(2) opportunity to commit the crime, such as property to
steal, persons to kill, etc.; and (3) absence of opposition or
restraint. The first two are positive and the last one neg-
ative.

Objective Causes of Crime. — Under this head come
the causes due to physical and social environment.

1. Physical Environment. — Climate has a great deal to
do with the nature of crime, and also its extent. We find that
crimes against the person or life itself, such as murder or
assault, are much more frequent in hot climates than in cold,
not only because of the greater excitability of the nature of
the individual, but because of the fact that life is always
held cheaper in warm than in cold regions, as it is easier to
rear and support large families. Then too, the death-rate
being higher, people living in warm climates are more accus-
tomed to seeing death and of course think less about it. The
same is found true in regard to seasons, there being more
crimes against the person in warm weather than in cold. On
the contrary, we find that crimes against property increase
with cold weather, being much more serious in winter than
in summer. The temptation increases with cold weather:
the demand for food, clothes, and shelter is greater and the
opportunity of providing them becomes less; hence a resort
to unlawful measures follows. Every winter we find news-
papers calling attention to the so-called "crime wave" that
is sweeping their city or the country in general. The same
situation does not, however, hold true in regard to climates,
for the inhabitants of Africa, Mexico, Central America, and
other warm climates are noted for their thieving habits. But
this is probably due to the fact that northern countries have
stabler governments.

2. Social Environment. — The causes included under
this heading are much more important, and at the same time
much harder to separate and analyze, than those due to
physical environment. These come under several heads.

( 1 ) . Family Demoralization. — In our treatment of divorce
we found that the breaking up of the family produced among
other things juvenile delinquency. Again under poverty we
found that the children of parents, who are obliged to be

CRIME 42 1

away from home to work are thrown out upon the street to
shift for themselves. Also that the inmates of the reform
schools and those children coming before the juvenile courts
come from the homes that are broken up or demoralized by
family troubles and by poverty; in fact between eighty-five
and ninety per cent of the children in the reform schools
come from disorganized homes. Dependent children drift
into crime for the same reasons. Illegitimate children are
still more prone to commit crime, for not only are they subject
to all the temptations, but they are shunned by society.
Domestic troubles also contribute to the crime of adults as
well, for if the home is not happy the tendency is for them
to drift to the saloon, dance hall, and gambling table, where
the temptation is increased. The majority of our prisoners
in the United States are unmarried — sixty-four per cent in
1904, but this is partly the result of crime, the inmates spend-
ing so much time in prison that the opportunity of marrying
becomes less. The life of crime does not allow one to settle
down; it keeps the criminal constantly on the move. On the
other hand, family life has its steadying effect on the indi-
vidual, especially if that family life is happy.

(2). Poverty. — We have already noted that poverty and
crime go hand in hand. Poverty increases the temptation,
incites dissatisfaction with government, and breeds a contempt
for law and order, arising from the belief that government
protects merely the wealthy and that the law was made for
the rich man and not for the poor. When a man has a family
that is in dire need and when he at the same time cannot
get employment or earn a living wage, there is a great deal
of reason for such a line of thinking. Poverty tends to dis-
courage, and thus often leads to crime. Of course poverty
does not inevitably result in crime, but it intensifies the temp-
tation and so increases crime — that is, if the poverty is
extreme. People are continually wanting things, and if they
cannot get them legally they frequently are not strong- enuf
to withstand the temptation to get them in any way. This
is seen even among well-to-do and people of means. Lack
of work, rise in cost of food, etc., generally increase crime.

(3). Maladjustment of Industry. — Strikes, lockouts,
periods of depression, crises, and changes in industry upset
the stability of conditions and often lead to violence and
crime. This is especially true in times of strikes and lock-"
outs, when both sides lose control of themselves and resort to

422 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

violence; then destruction of property, blows, and even mur-
der are the result. In bitter strikes both factions occasion-
ally become desperate and forget law and order. To this list
might also be added low wages, child labor, long hours of
work, and the like.

(4). Density oj Population. — We also find more crime
in cities than in rural districts, not because people in cities
are naturally criminal — for they are not — but because temp-
tation is greater; there is greater opportunity to commit crime.
Then too, criminals go from the small towns and rural dis-
tricts to the centers of population in order to avoid detection.
Because of this about twice as great a percentage of crime
is committed in cities as in the country. The "flops" of Chi-
cago are favorite hiding places of criminals; so is the "east
side" of New York, the "east side" of London, and the "north
end" of Kansas City.

(5). Defective Courts and Penal System. — The fact that
many offenders escape punishment creates a disregard for law.
Severity of punishment never deters, for everyone is egotistic
enuf to think that if anyone can escape he can. What does
deter is certainty of detection and punishment, even if the
punishment be light. The fact that so many slip thru our
courts advertises their inefficiency. Defects in handling the
prisoner after he is sentenced increase crime, for instead of
working towards reformation, as a prison should do, it has
in the past hardened him. Allowing first offenders to asso-
ciate with hardened criminals, especially for several months
in the county jails, makes criminals out of otherwise law-
abiding persons. Also the difficulty and uncertainty of secur-
ing justice and the allowing of a verdict to depend upon who
has the largest pocketbook cause people to lose confidence
in courts. Corruption and graft among police systems hinder
the stamping out of crime; policemen are, as a result of con-
nivance on the part of superiors, afraid to arrest noted vio-
lators of the law. Short sentences are likely only to increase
instead of prevent crime.

(6). Defective Law and Government. — This cause works
much the same as the preceding one. Allowing bad social
conditions to exist often lies at the root of the whole matter.
Laws such as those licensing saloons create crime. Laws
which impose heavier penalties upon certain classes than others
or upon minor offenses encourage people to lose respect for
law. Laws which are poorly drawn up are often the causes

CRIME 423

of defective courts or the inability of courts to enforce their
verdicts. Poor administration of law thru lax or inefficient
officials, such as we often find in city governments, allows
crime to persist and in truth almost puts a premium upon
the committing of crime.

(7). Race and nationality also have to be considered. In
our study of immigration we found that certain races are
more addicted to crime than others. We learned that the
Poles are addicted to the use of liquor and under its influ-
ence become dangerous and commit many deadly assaults;
that the Irish under the same influence commit minor offenses;
that the Italians were in past years controlled by the "black
hand". The American negro likewise is especially addicted
to petty thefts and minor offenses. Many nationalities are
noted for their high criminal rate, particularly those of eastern
Asia and Central and South America.

(8). Education or Lack oj It. — Altho an educated "crook"
is much more dangerous than an uneducated one, the educated
person is much less liable to become a criminal. In fact it
is found that few inmates of the ordinary prison have much
education. Not only is the percentage of illiteracy high
among criminals, but those who can read ,and write have less
education than the average man, the majority stopping school
long before they finish the grades — before they receive enuf
instruction to become really efficient at anything. This is
especially true of the major offenders, where the percentage
of illiteracy is about double that of the general population.
Education not only gives efficiency but teaches respect for
law and keeps the child off the streets or out of temptation
during the years in which character is most developed. While
the best educational system possible will not stop crime, it
will go a long way towards checking it. If an educational
system is defective and does not serve its true purpose, it
will allow crime to increase faster than it otherwise would.
If it omits moral instruction, physical education, or industrial
training, it is to that extent defective. One needs a sound
body to be moral, and a chance to succeed in life to be law-
abiding. An educational system that will make the child
hate learning will encourage that child to leave school at as
early an age as possible and will kill the influence of the
school. The extension of such schemes as the Gary school
plan will tend to keep down crime. Also the providing of

424 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

special schools for the dull and the precocious children will
have the same effect.

Along with the school in its educational effect must be
considered the public libraries, the magazines, and the press,
especially the press. The space given to crimes and immo-
rality and divorce cases in our newspapers advertises those
things and teaches people to imitate them. Newspapers often
open up ways to crime by suggesting plans of operation; they
attract attention to crime and arouse .dormant tendencies.

(9). Harmful social amusements, and the lack of health-
ful amusement, drive people, especially the poor, who have
not the means to choose anything else, to seek amusement
at the saloon, the pool hall, the dance hall, the gambling house,
vulgar theatrical performances, and similar places of enter-
tainment. Such amusements spread vice and crime. This is
being counteracted now by the substitution of healthful amuse-
ment ; the putting in of free parks in our cities with their base-
ball, football, and basketball grounds, tennis courts, golf links,
bathing beaches, skating rinks, and gymnasiums. The mov-
ing picture show is driving the vulgar theatrical out of busi-
ness, and if it can be controlled so as to eliminate the vulgar
and sensational, it will have an uplifting effect, and do its
share in furnishing healthful diversion. Probably no stronger
check to crime could be instituted than furnishing the public
with clean healthful sport and amusement.

(10). Social habits and customs, such as treating; the car-
rying of concealed weapons ; serving cigarettes in polite society ;
low necked dresses — in short, those customs and habits that
are demoralizing to character and increase temptation, but
customs which society still allows.

Subjective Causes of Crime. — These are largely biolog-
ical and are sometimes rather conditions attending crime than
causes of it.

1. Degeneracy, Physical, Mental, and Moral. — Feeble-
mindedness, insanity, and epilepsy are closely connected with
crime. The person who is weak is the person who gets into
trouble. It is the same with the student; the student who
will cheat in the examination room or copy someone else's
work is the one who is a weakling, who is not strong enuf to
resist temptation, or who has not the mental ability or will
power to work the matter out for himself. The person who
aids him in this way is also one who is not strong enuf to
say "no". It is the same way with drinking and smoking

CRIME; 425

cigarettes — it is largely the weakling who takes up those
habits, the one who is not man enuf to resist them. It is like-
wise with crime — the feeble-minded or weak willed person
is not able' to withstand temptation and falls into crime, tt
is asserted that in the prisons where studies in regard to
mental capacity have been made that fully one-fourth of the
inmates are feeble-minded. One has only to visit a peni-
tentiary to notice that the majority of the prisoners are under
normal or are peculiar. They are also below normal phys-
ically. Criminals are drawn largely from the lowest strata of
society, from the scum and riff-raff. Criminals, paupers, imbe-
ciles, drunkards, prostitutes, and other degenerates come, to
a great extent, from the same family stocks. One needs only
to study the Jukes, Kallikak, Nam, and Hill-folks families
to prove this. While not all criminals are degenerate, a much
larger percentage is found among them than in the ordinary
population.

2. Intemperance or Drunkenness. — This is in part an
objective cause, but has to be classified here. It has been
stated on good authority that between ninety and ninety-five
per cent of crime in the United States in the past was mixed
up in some way or other with liquor and that fully one-half
of the crime committed was the direct result of liquor. Since
the advent of prohibition empty jails and idle police courts
testify to the truth of such statements. One does things under
the influence of liquor which he or she would not do other-
wise. Also liquor weakens the will and reduces the power
of resistance. It influences in a myriad of other ways. With
liquor might be classified drugs and opiates.

3. Age. — Most criminals are young — between the ages
of twenty and forty as a rule; in fact the average of those
confined in the penitentiaries is about twenty-seven or twenty-
eight. The reason for this is apparent: crimes are committed
during the active period of life, when the person is physically
at his best. Later in life if the person has not died or reformed
he loses his nerve and settles down and acts as a fence for
younger criminals. The life of the criminal is hazardous,
and many die young.

4. Sex. — In the United States ninety-five per cent of the
criminals are men. In Europe the percentage of women is
somewhat higher, but in all countries male criminals greatly
outnumber the female. This is not all due to the fact that
man is naturally more criminal, but partly to the fact that

426 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

women, when they want crimes committed, get men to act
for them. The women are weaker physically and lack the
courage to commit crime, especially the graver offenses. They
are apt to commit misdemeanors and minor offenses which
do not come under the pale of the law. Then perhaps still
more important, women are much less vigorously prosecuted
in court than men. If in need women are more apt to be
driven into prostitution than to theft. Moreover, there are
in the United States about two millions more of men than
of women; also immigrants are mostly men, and they furnish
a fairly high criminal rate. But then it has to be admitted
that woman is more conservative and is more willing to obey
the law, standing in much greater awe of it than man does.
She is much more accustomed to obey. Then she does not
as a rule have the temptation, being kept more in the home;
so she does not have the chance to commit offenses that
man has.

5. Habits, Sentiments, and Ideals; in Fact All Kinds oj
Acquired Characteristics. — The bulk of these may be traced
back, at least in part, to objective causes, yet they must be
considered here also. Many of them have been developed
by the "gang", also by home environment as well. These
ideals are not created suddenly but are the results of educa-
tion. They show imitation of the bad rather than the good
actions of society.

6. Sexual Passions. — This point is closely connected with
the preceding one, but is worthy of special notice. The pas-
sions cause such crimes as rape, seduction, and assault, and
even lead to other crimes as murder, arson, etc.

Criminal Psychology. — A great deal has been written
about criminal psychology, yet the bulk of this discussion is
merely an elaboration of the physical indications of criminal
tendencies and an enumeration of abnormalities of mind found
in the criminal. Altho such studies are extremely interesting
and very suggestive, they seldom bring us to any definite con-
clusion. But the subject cannot be adequately treated in a
work as brief as this, and therefore it must be left to special
courses and treatises on criminology. In this connection we
may, however, call attention to the theories of Lombroso and
the investigations of Goring.

Italian School of Criminal Anthropology. — About
1875 there came into prominence in Italy a school of criminolo-
gists, known as the Italian School of Criminal Anthropolo-

CRIME 427

gists, headed by Caesar Lombroso, who took the position that
crime was largely due to atavism, or the reversion to savage
or animal types. This school postulated that there was a more
or less definite criminal type and that individuals of this type
could be distinguished from ordinary persons because of cer-
tain physical and mental peculiarities. It proceeded from the
principle that there is an intimate relation between bodily and
mental conditions and processes; and in accordance with this
theory Lombroso began an examination of the physical char-
acteristics and peculiarities of the criminal offender. He found
out that as a rule the criminal, particularly the habitual crim-
inal, can be distinguished from the average members of society
by a much higher percentage of physical anomalies in the
way of malformations of the skull, face, brain, and sense
organs, such as hare-lips, high palates, and bad teeth; also
by such personal irregularities as excessive length of limbs
and sexual peculiarities, most noticeably feminism would be
found in men and masculinism in women. He also discov-
ered mental anomalies like nervousness, morbidness, excessive
vanity, irritability, love of revenge, and, in short, habits akin
to those of uncivilized tribes. He ranked the criminal as a
product of pathological and atavistic anomalies, standing mid-
way between the lunatic and the savage. There has been
much opposition to this theory on the ground that these
peculiarities belong also to the insane, the epileptic, the victim
of alcoholism, the prostitute, and the habitual pauper, as
well as to the criminal, and that the criminal is only one
branch of a decadent stem, or one member of a degenerate
family group. Lombroso and his followers, especially Ferri,
went so far as to try to separate the criminal class into differ-
ent types, each distinguishable by certain physical and mental
peculiarities, and to contend that certain physical anomalies
indicate certain criminal tendencies. While the theories of
Lombroso are interesting and suggestive, they have been dis-
cardd as unscientific and are no longer believed. Without
question these peculiarities he points out do to some extent
exist, but they are rather effects of criminal life than causes
of it. The fact that the criminal comes in a large number
of cases from the degenerate portion of our population (as
is especially pointed out by Goring) would naturally make
us expect to find a much heavier percentage of physical and
mental failingL and peculiarities.

428 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

Investigations of Goring. — Goring in his investigation
and study of 300,000 English convicts contends that crimi-
nality is not a morbid state like a disease which can be recog-
nized by observation and prescribed for, that as individuals
criminals possess no physical or mental characteristics which
are not shared by all people, and that there are no physical
or mental peculiarities or characteristics common to all crimi-
nals. Yet he admits that criminals as a class are generally
defective, both physically and mentally, and points out fur-
ther that thieves and burglars, who make up ninety per cent
of the number of criminals, are inferior to the general popu-
lation (and even to other criminals), not because they are
criminals, but because they are drawn from the lowest social
strata.

Goring's investigations disprove Lombroso's theory of a crim-
inal type, and also his theory about being able to distinguish
between the different classes of criminals. Goring shows that
differences do exist among criminals, but precisely as they
do among normal persons. He does, however, note some char-
acteristics — namely:1

(1). That there is no relation between sickness and crime,
that if there is any difference lawbreakers enjoy better health
than the law-abiding. Also that mortality from accidental
negligence and from infectious fevers and similar diseases is
reduced by prison confinement.

(2). That there is a high degree of relationship between
crime and insanity, altho crime is not a cause of insanity.

(3). That epilepsy has a confirmed relationship to the
committing of crime.

(4). That alcoholism plays an important part and is a
cause of the high mortality rate of criminals and the prev-
alence of alcoholic diseases.

(5). That there is a similar relationship between sexual
looseness and crime, and that this is a reason for the prev-
alence of syphillis to such a high degree.

(6). That chronic diseases, instead of causing crime, are
a deterrent, as they prevent the person from pursuing a crim-
inal career.

(7). That the death-rate is about the same as in the respec-
tive classes of society from which the criminals come.

(8). That altho the criminals come from the most pro-

1Goring, Charles, "The English Convict".

CRIME 429

lific stock in the community, they themselves have fewer chil-
dren; that as illustration, of the general population in England
621 out of 1000 marry and have on an average of 5.66 children,
and of criminals 629 out of 1000 marry and have 3.5 chil-
dren, or a ratio of 5 to 8; that this is due not to sterility
but to the breaking up of the homes, desertion of family, and
the interruption of family life. It is noted that fertility thus
decreases with the frequency of incarceration and that habitual
criminals are more inclined to be bachelors. In other words,
marital conditions are much the same as we should expect
to find.

(9). Heredity. — That the tendency to crime is inherited
in about the same degree as other qualities of men; that the
influence of parental contagion is considerable, varying with
the conditions.

In his conclusion at the end of his "English Convict" Goring
sums up as follows:

"The physical and mental constitution of both criminal and law-
abiding persons of the same age, statue, class, and intelligence are iden-
tical. There is no such thing as an anthropological criminal type. Yet
in spite of this it appears to be an indisputable fact that there is a
physical, mental, and moral type of normal persons, who tend to be
convicted of crime. That is to say, the criminal of English prisons
is markedly differentiated by defective physique as measured by statue
and bodily weight; by defective mental capacity and by a possession
of wilful anti-social proclivities. The thief has a smaller, narrower head
than the policeman who arrests him, not because he is a thief but
because he is inferior. One-thirteenth of the persons in England are
at some time convicted, and if all had to pass by in groups of thirteen
and the poorest looking, physically and mentally, were picked from
each group this new group would correspond to the prison type. That
there lies in the physical constitution the existence of a peculiar psychic
power by which one was liable to become a criminal was the old theory.
The new idea is that he is not born a criminal but made one. We
find close bonds between defective physique and defective mentality.
Alcoholic diseases, like the venereal ones, are determinants of crime.
But we are not able to establish any definite relationship between crime
and such social conditions as parental neglect, poverty, etc. *** That
imprisonment does not materially affect the health of the criminal,
whose health is about the same as when outside."

READING REFERENCES

PARMEI-EE, MAURICE, Criminology.

PARMELEE, MAURICE, Anthropology and Sociology in Their Relation to

Criminal Procedure.

WINES, F. H., Punishment and Reformation, Chaps. I, II, XII.
FERRI, ENRICO, Criminal Sociology.
LOMBROSO, CAESAR, Crime, Its Causes and Remedies.
LOMBROSO, CAESAR, The Female Offender.

430 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

GROSS, HANS, Criminal Psychology.

TARDE, G., Penal Philosophy.

BONGER, W. A., Criminality and Economic Conditions.

KELLOR, F., Experimental Sociology; Delinquents.

MCDONALD, A., Criminal Sociology.

ELLIS, H., The Criminal.

ROBINSON, L. N., History and Organization of Criminal Statistics in the
United States.

TRAVIS, THOMAS, The Young Malefactor, a Study in Juvenile Delin-
quency.

HAYES, E. C., Introduction to the Study of Sociology, Chap. XXXII.

ELLWOOD, C. A., Sociology and Modern Social Problems, Chap. XIV.

GORING, CHARLES, The English Convict.

CHAPTER XXII

CRIME (Continued)

TREATMENT OF THE CRIMINAL

In the early history of crime the criminal was treated accord-
ing to the principle of revenge. This theory was supplanted
by that of repression, or the attempt to stamp out crime. In
turn this idea has given way to the principle of reformation,
which now is being combined with and supplanted more and
more by that of prevention, or the preventing of crime before
it is committed. While no time limits can be set to prevalence
of these different theories, this is the order of their evolution;
in that order we shall study them.

1. Theory of Revenge. — The "tooth for a tooth" and "eye
for an eye" idea was merely an illustration of this theory which
for centuries governed the treatment of criminals. The laws
or rules of society allowed the person injured or his relatives
to obtain revenge on the person who committed the injury.
The "blood avenger" of the Old Testament was a person given
this power. Sometimes the person who committed the injury
became the slave of the injured person for a stated peri&d
of time or for life. The despoiler of the Roman home was
turned over to the angry husband to treat as he saw fit. Pun-
ishment was retaliation; the aim was to see the offender suffer
to pay for the suffering he had caused. As long as revenge
was the governing motive, punishments were generally death,
mutilation, torture, whipping, and slavery; one shudders even
to read the accounts of the punishments of antiquity. Human
ingenuity was taxed to its utmost to invent tortures and
methods of execution by which death would lie as long drawn
out as possible and the unhappy wretch made to suffer to
the limit of his endurance. Crucifixion, applying the boot,
impaling, flaying, burning, sawing asunder, boiling in oil, bury-
ing alive, breaking on the wheel, whipping with the knout,
drawing and quartering, starvation, and similar punishments
are merely examples of some of the forms chosen. For minor
offenses lesser punishments, such as branding, mutilating, and

431

432 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF1 SOCIOLOGY

flogging, were used. The theory was that not only was it
good to make people suffer for their wrongs, but the sight
of their suffering prevented others from committing the same
offenses. This theory gradually gave place to the idea that
there was a more or less definite criminal class and that it
was the duty of society to put it down or stamp it out of
existence ; this is our next period — the one of repression.

2. Theory of Repression. — The period in which this theory
was upheld was hardly less bloody than the preceding one,
except that death was not so cruelly produced. Thinking that
there was a criminal class and being alarmed over the increase
of crime, the public took upon itself the work of ridding society
of these criminals. Death was made the penalty for nearly
all crimes, over two hundred offenses being punished by death
in England at one time and qver one hundred in France. A
French judge at Nancy boasted of burning over eight hun-
dred persons in sixteen years, and Judge Jeffrey made his
name infamous by his perseverance in the carrying out of
what he considered his duty by sentencing to death every
one whom he possibly could. Seventy-two thousand were
hanged during the reign of Henry XIII, a period of thirty-
eight years. The world finally grew tired of the shedding of
blood and substituted banishment and transportation for many
offenses. Penal colonies were established in various parts
of the world, including Australia, the Carolinas, and Georgia.
For this reason America for a long time caught a large num-
ber of the criminals of Europe. Branding was abolished and
torture went out of existence. These penalties did not fit
into the scheme of repression, altho they were used to intimi-
date the people; but it was finally brot to the attention of
the public that such penalties did not stop crime, that the
seeing of people suffer did not deter others from committing
crime, but on the contrary it increased it, for the sight of
suffering hardened them and created a desire to see more
people suffer. Then, too, repression did not prevent crime;
the world was breeding crime faster than it could harvest
the criminals. For every criminal that it executed the world
was bringing into existence another, and usually more than
one, to take his place. Property was unequally distributed,
justice was only for the strong, laws were for the rulers;
misery was everywhere, vice was rampant. It is no wonder
that crime flourished. Yet the theory of repression prevailed

TREATMENT OF THE CRIMINAL 433

down to very recent times — and it prevails in many places
even today. Perhaps we do not want to kill the criminals,
as in the past; we merely want to put them in prison, but
the theory is often the same. Because severity, repression,
and intimidation do not prevent crime this method was a
failure and had to give way to that of reformation.

3. Theory of Reformation. — This theory is very modern;
it has come into vogue almost since the nineteenth century.
Instead of trying to get revenge on the criminal for his act
or to repress crime by killing off the criminal class, we
have changed our idea gradually to that of reformation.
Instead thinking of the criminal as being incorrigible or belong-
ing to a class which could not be reconciled with society, we
gained the idea that the criminal was much like other human
beings and that he committed crime, not because of innate
tendencies, but because his training or environment were either
defective or contaminating. This theory was partly the result
of finding that the bulk of crime is caused by environment.
With the coming in of this theory the treatment of the crim-
inal changed radically from that of severity and abuse to
that of fairness and consideration. The new point of view
brot about a complete reform in the management of prisons
and other penal institutions. Instead of being subjected to
hard, deadening labor the prisoner was taught a trade.
Instead of sending him out into the world to drift back into
crime again the state tried to get him employment. Instead
of flogging and other brutal methods of discipline more humane
methods came into use. Modern reforms like probation,
parole, the indeterminate sentence, and the honor system
were made possible. It was found that the former methods
of handling prisoners made them worse and hardened them
to a life of crime. All prisoners cannot of course be reformed
but many can be, and the result has proved to be well worth
the effort.

4. Theory of Prevention. — While we recognize the value
of reformation, we have now come to realize that it is not
the end; that the chief aim is not to reform criminals after
they have entered a life of crime, but instead to prevent their
even entering such a life, or, in other words, to lock the stable
door before the theft occurs. The juvenile court with its
system of probation was originated in order to save children
from becoming criminals. But still more than this, the aim

434 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

should be to remove bad home conditions, defective industrial
conditions, faulty government, unjust courts, crowded housing
conditions — in short to remedy those conditions of society
which are the causes of crime. This is the present theory in
regard to the proper attitude towards crime. In practice we
have not yet reached such a stage, altho we are headed in
the right direction. This must be supplemented of course
by reformatory treatment of the criminals which we have
already in society.

Different Types of Prisons. — Prisons of antiquity were
places made not for punishment but for safekeeping, being
generally dungeons located in underground chambers beneath
palaces, forts, or castles, or in some dismal or inaccessible
place. In these dungeons the prisoner was retained for trial
or for ransom, or merely kept out of the way or held for ter-
ture. These were dismal, dreary, and often disease-ridden
places. The prisoners were usually chained or shackled to
the wall, to rocks, or to iron bars. They were fed the poorest
food, and little of that. Often they were left to decay or to
live years of lingering death. Persons were not sentenced
there for definite terms; in fact prison sentences for the pur-
pose of punishment are of comparatively recent origin. The
prisons of the Middle Ages were little better than the prisons
of antiquity, being mostly in the castles of the barons and
used for the confinement of personal enemies. When prisons
were used by the state they were places of neglect, where the
prisoner was much more apt to die of disease and filth than
he was to live to see the end of his sentence. Of recent years
prisons have been systematized and made to follow three more
or less definitely worked out plans, known as the Pennsyl-
vania, Auburn, and Elmira types, getting their names from
the first prisons of their kinds in the United States.

1. The Pennsylvania type is characterized by the indi-
vidual cell idea, each person living in a separate cell — eating,
sleeping, and working there. It was first tried in England
about 1785 and was introduced into the United States in
1790 at Philadelphia. It was adopted in a few other places
but was not copied much in the United States; it was soon
abandoned. It has some advantages, including: (1). There
is ease of government because of the little need of discipline:
(2) prisoners do not -associate, and so upon discharge can-
not recognize each other, hence are less frequently tempted;

TREATMENT OF1 THE CRIMINAL 435

(3) because of the greater chance for reflection on the part
of the prisoner reformatory agencies have a better chance.
These good points are more than overbalanced by the objec-
tions, some of which are: (1) Isolation has a bad mental
effect upon the mind and body; (2) solitude is not complete
because of visits from officials of various grades and often
of questionable character; moreover, because of the use of
signals isolation is not complete; (3) prisoners are never free
from the company of their own thots — often their worst
enemies; (4) instruction is made more difficult thru the absence
of class instruction; (5) it is much more difficult to overseer
work and to find suitable employment for all.

2. The Auburn type is named after the prison at Auburn,
New York, established in 1816. Here absolute silence, was
enforced, but the convicts were worked in a body or in large
groups in large workshops. The discipline was severe and
strict. This plan was adopted generally thruout the United
States and is. still in use to some extent, altho it has given
way largely to the Elmira system or to a combination of
the two.

3. The Elmira system is named after the Elmira Reforma-
tory in New York, which opened its doors in 1876. The plan
gained its reputation here, altho many of the ideas had been
used before, especially in Australia. It is a combination of
marks, grades, and parole under the indeterminate sentence,
the marks and grades being used to show when the prisoner
is ready for parole, in this way they are used as rewards or
punishments. Prisoners are usually taught trades and receive
educational instruction and religious training. The discipline,
while not brutal, is more exacting and unremitting than in
fhe ordinary prison and for this reason is less liked by the
worst men. Reformation is the keynote; the endeavor is to
fit the prisoner for life, and so make him more able to fight
life's battles. The system is especially applicable to young
prisoners and first offenders. It has its disadvantages in
that it opens up chances for bribery and corruption of the
prison officials, and often gives more power to the warden than
he is capable of using, but this is more the fault of officials
than of the system. It has been adopted in whole or in part
in most of the states, including Massachusetts, Pennsylvania,
Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, Minnesota, Kansas, and South
Dakota. It is the accepted plan of today, for it gives a

436 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

criminal who has really reformed and is ready to take his
place in society the opportunity to leave the prison. In this
way, coupled with the indeterminate sentence and parole, it
is especially successful. It compels us to study the criminal
and to apply to him the individual treatment which is neces-
sary in order to give him justice.

The American prison experience has not been so success-
ful as it should have been, nor so successful as that of some
other countries, such as England, for example. It has been
either severe to the point of cruelty or lax to the point of
weakness. This has been owing to the fact that wardens
as a rule have been political appointees who were unfit for
their positions. In the past our prisons often were perfect
hell-holes, even in such state penitentiaries as those of Mis-
souri, Ohio, Texas, Georgia, and Tennessee, which have served
us as notorious examples of what ought not to be. Prisons
were great manufacturing establishments run by contractors,
because the contract system paid best. The state took little
interest, except to make the prisons pay, and the finan-
cial test was the measure of success of a system. Self-control
was not encouraged and the prisons, instead of helping the
prisoner, ordinarily sent him back into life a greater enemy
to society than he was when he entered. In recent years
there has been a change and our leading penitentiaries are
becoming very efficient; many are just the opposite to what
they formerly were. Wardens are now chosen because of
fitness rather than politics, and really capable men, such as
former Warden Simpson of Michigan State Prison at Jack-
son, are accepting the positions. Greater success is the result
of such a choice.

Prison Work. — The question of finding work for pris-
oners has always been more or less of a problem, but in gen-
eral the following systems have been adopted:

1. Contract system, or the letting out of the work of the
prisoners to a contractor who comes into the prison and estab-
lishes the industry. He usually pays to the state a lump
sum or a certain amount for each prisoner and works the
prisoners as hard as he can, paying them nothing, or possibly
a small amount for extra work. The fault with this system
is that it gives the discipline over to private individuals who
are interested only in the profit and who care nothing for
the reformation of the prisoner; whether he or she does the

TREATMENT OF THE CRIMINAL 437

required amount of work is the only test of conduct. From
a financial standpoint it generally pays the state fairly well.
It also relieves the state of buying machinery and establish-
ing a factory, and it frees the warden from a great deal of
responsibility and care. It was once adopted in most of
our penitentiaries, but is now being discarded. Because it
gives a few manufacturers an advantage on account of the
hiring of cheaper labor it has been much objected to by other
manufacturers and by organized labor especially. It will soon
be a thing of the past.

2. The lease system, or the farming out of prisoners to
contractors who take the prisoners away from the peniten-
tiary and assume entire charge over them — working, feed-
ing, clothing, and housing them. It has generally resulted
in gross brutality, the convicts being worked to the limit of
their endurance — often to the point of death — in their being
fed the cheapest and poorest of food and housed in dirty,
filthy shacks, and in their being shackled together at night
and often chained to a ball or guarded by men with shotguns
and dogs during the day. The treatment is often brutal and
demoralizing to the extreme, and it is difficult to imagine that
such a country as the United States would ever adopt this
method; yet it has been used in the majority of our Southern
states, including Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi,
and Florida; in the last named state it was used so late as
1916. The whole system is wrong, for it gives to individuals
not only the treatment of prisoners but control over their
very lives. The author knows of no arguments in favor of
this shiftless and brutal system.

3. Piece-price system, by which the state pays the prison-
ers a certain amount for each piece of work done. This often
requires an elaborate system of bookkeeping and is difficult
to operate on this account; yet it is preferable by far to the
two previously discussed systems. It gives the worker a chance
to aid his family at home or save money. It is often used
successfully in connection with either of the two systems
yet to be named.

4. Public account system, by which the state puts in the
factory or runs the industry. This requires much machinery
and investment and so demands business ability to carry out.
But by this plan the wardens can maintain a definite system
of management. The goods, however, are sold on the open

438 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF1 SOCIOLOGY

market in competition with free labor; also there is danger
of graft and scandal caused by inability of wardens to manage
such an industry. This system in combination with the piece-
price system of paying the prisoners has been worked out
with remarkable success in the Michigan State Prison at
Jackson, but as a rule it is not considered so feasible as the
public use system.

5. The public use system, or the manufacture of articles
or commodities to be used by the state in the various insti-
tutions, thus freeing the state from the necessity of going
into the market to purchase these necessary commodities and
also saving the state from having to put the prison made
goods on the market. It thus saves the state money, and also
allows the warden to work out his own scheme of manage-
ment. Moreover, it has a psychological effect upon the pris-
oners, for they feel much more like working if they know
that the public will gain rather than a private contractor
who is getting rich from their toil and who drives them as
hard as he can. The writer noticed this particularly at the
Bridewell in Chicago, in the making of bread for the municipal
lodging house.

Some Modern Methods in the Treatment of Crime.
— Juvenile Courts. — Juvenile courts are recent, the first
court of this nature having been instituted in Boston in 1898.
Chicago followed the example of Boston in 1899 and Denver
in 1901, and the idea quickly spread, largely due to the adver-
tising given it by Judge Benjamin F. Lindsay, the juvenile
court judge of Denver. This is one method of criminal pro-
cedure in which the United States leads the world. The
origin of it is found in the belief that the child who commits
an offense and is arrested and treated in the same manner
as an adult was not receiving justice, and that instead of
being reformed he became hardened. This was especially
true if he was thrown into the ordinary jail with hardened
criminals. So a new procedure was instituted. Instead of
following the ordinary court method the judge usually hears
the cases in his chambers or in a less awe inspiring method
than that of the criminal court. Instead of having lawyers
and calling witnesses in the usual manner, the child is gen-
erally brot up to the judge, who has a friendly talk with
him, hears witnesses if the child admits the offense and if
it is the first offense, instead of being sentenced he is put

TREATMENT OF THE CRIMINAL 439

on probation under the care of a probation officer, who visits
him and to whom he is required to report at stated inter-
vals. He is usually also required to visit the judge regularly,
generally on Saturday mornings; to those meetings he is
required to bring a report from his school teacher. If these
reports are good and the probation officer reports that he
is behaving himself, the child is released at the end of the
time stated, ordinarily from six weeks to six months. This
system requires a proper force of probation officers, who
must be skilled in this work; some of them must be women
to handle the cases of delinquent girls and small boys. It
necessitates also a detention home to prevent the sending of
children to the lockup. As a rule, except in large cities, a
judge need not give all his time to juvenile cases; so he often
gives but one day a week to them, hearing on other days
regular cases. The juvenile court also handles cases of depend-
ent children as well as delinquent ones, and often summons
the parents to court if they are contributory to the delin-
quency of the children or fail to care for them. It also
calls in others who may be contributory and does much good
in this way. The whole system goes at the problem in the
right manner and attempts to prevent crime by stopping the
youth before he gets started on a life of crime. If probation
does not succeed, the child is sent to a reform school, there
to be kept, if necessary, till he reaches the age of twenty-one;
just a procedure prevents the child from being sent to the
regular jail. Before the juvenile courts came into existence
we were sending annually five thousand children in the United
States to jail, and in nearly every case were swelling the
number of criminals just that much. In 1901 sixty-five
reformatories in this country had harbored up to that time
210,999 children. The preventive work of the juvenile court
has found a responsive vein in the American public: the press,
the pulpit, and the lecture platform have advertised it; and
the results have been so remarkably successful that it has
spread all over the United States; until at the present time
practically all our cities have juvenile courts in some form
or other, working with varying degrees of success. In some
places, especially Chicago, we have gone to other extreme
and have been entirely too lenient, putting everyone on pro-
bation without providing proper systems of probation officers
and without building proper reform school facilities to care

440 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OB1 SOCIOLOGY

for those who break their probation or who drift back again
into delinquency. The result of this failure is that children
lose their respect for the law. This is not a fault of the
system, but with the methods of carrying it out; the whole
scheme of course requires judges and probation officers of
peculiar ability in order to handle the children. Not only
has the juvenile court been very successful in handling juve-
nile delinquency and in saving the country from thousands
of future criminals and consequent endless expense, but it has
also given us a method of treating adults — that is, probation.

Indeterminate Sentence, Probation, and Parole.—
While all three of these methods are separate, they are treated
together because they overlap, since they carry out the same
principle — that is, returning the criminal to society. By
indeterminate sentence we mean the sentencing a prisoner
who has been convicted not to a definite term of years, such
as five or eight, but to an unstated number of years. In the
United States we usually fix a maximum and a minimum,
altho the present tendency is to reduce the maximum and elim-
inate the minimum. This leaves the matter of length of sen-
tence to a board or commission, usually the Board of Parole,
consisting generally of the warden, sometimes the judge sen-
tencing, the prison physician or chaplain, and some outside
disinterested person or persons, who settle the question of
when the prisoner shall be released. These members govern
themselves not so much by the offense as by the conduct of
the prisoner and the probable chance of his becoming a law-
abiding citizen. They consider the future — the effect on
the community and on him.

Incorporated with the indeterminate sentence, in order to
make it successful, generally goes parole, the releasing of a
prisoner from prison to serve the remainder of his term out-
side the walls. He is usually required to report at stated
intervals and^s visited by a parole officer who sees whether
he is law-abiding. To get parole, work must as a rule be
provided before the prisoner is released. About three-fourths
of our states now have indeterminate sentence laws and make
use of parole, some even for such offenses as murder, after
ten or fifteen years have been served. While some prisoners
violate their parole, from seventy-five to eighty-five per cent
of those paroled live up to the terms of it and never bother
the state again. About one-half or two-thirds of those who

TREATMENT OF THE CRIMINAL 441

violate it are caught later and returned to serve out their
maximum sentences. These are generally the habitual crim-
nals who while in prison create model records in order to get
out earlier. On the whole, the plan is very successful and
is being extended more and more.

Probation is slightly different. Instead of being released
from prison before the time of their sentence has expired,
offenders are not even sent to prison, generally having sen-
tence passed upon them but being released upon good behav-
ior. This is merely an extension of probation to the adult,
resulting from the experience with juveniles, and is used mostly
with first offenders and those who commit minor offenses.
If carried out under a proper system of probation officers,
it often works very well, provided the judges use discretion
in granting it ; but too often the hardened criminal takes advan-
tage of it by pleading first offense, and if it is his first offense
in that court or that city he often succeeds and thus escapes
justice. In this respect probation is not so successful as
parole, for it does not give the judge the chance of investi-
gation that parole does, for under parole there is time to inves-
tigate and find out if the offender is wanted elsewhere for
other offenses; under probation this chance is not given.
Judges are often too busy to search for all the facts or are
not capable of making accurate decisions. A judicious use
of probation for adults is all right and highly justifiable, pro-
vided it is backed up by a proper number of probation officers,
but without such a system it often degenerates into a farce.
Probation and parole are too often confused in the popular
mind and parole is condemned for the sins of probation.

Honor System. — This system differs from the preceding
ones in that it consists in allowing the prisoner to leave the
walls of the prison on his word or on his honor not to try
to escape, but to return. This was -first tried in Oregon a
few years ago. There the governor got rid of the contracts
that had been formed by finding technicalities in them, but
then he met with the difficulty in obtaining work for the pris-
oners; so he tried the experiment of getting work for them
outside the walls. The plan proved so successful that it has
been copied in other states. Of the 1,700 prisoners in the
Ohio penitentiary about three hundred work outside of the
walls, some so far as forty miles from the penitentiary; many
work under convict foremen. Of the first three hundred and

442 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF1 SOCIOLOGY

eighteen, eighteen violated the parole, but nine of these were
returned. Of the one thousand or so prisoners at Jackson,
Michigan, two hundred are continually at work on their honor
on the prison farm, several miles from the walls, and alto-
gether about one-half of the prisoners are allowed at different
times this privilege; fewer violate the privilege than escape
from the prison by going over the walls in spite of the guards.
In fact it is generally considered dishonorable to sneak away.
This is especially so in Colorado, where sixty-five per cent
of the men are engaged in road-making. Then only those
who have good records and who have served a considerable
part of their terms, thus becoming eligible for parole, are
allowed to leave the walls. Since the risk of getting caught
and serving a much longer term is greater than simply serving
the remainder of the term, there is practically no incentive to
violate the honor. Because outside work is much preferred
to inside work, the prisoners are careful to watch each other
and thus prevent running away. The physical effect is good
as a result of getting the prisoners out into the open; the
moral effect is much greater, for the system gives them greater
confidence, since they know that they are being trusted. It
gives them greater self-control and thus makes them better
fitted to take their places in life after discharge. Greater
privileges, such as conversation, the use of tobacco, and the
wearing of ordinary citizen's clothing, are usually granted.
Thus the prisoner feels more like a man again. No prison,
except a jail in Vermont, has attempted to put all its pris-
oners on their honor; so it is a privilege and an indication
of distinction to be given this privilege. This jail in Vermont
allowed its prisoners to go out to work on the farms for two
dollars a day, one dollar of which the prisoner, kept. It is
found that the hardened convict, accustomed to the old meth-
ods of harsh treatment — flogging, tying up, the water cure,
the lock-step, stripes, etc. — responds most readily to the honor
system, for it is new to him. Whether in the future after
we have become used to it it will continue to be successful
is of course a question, but thus far it has more than justi-
fied itself. A most novel phase of the honor system, in fact
a very advanced form of it, was tried at Sing Sing by Warden
Osborne, who instituted a system of self-government, by which
the prisoners thru committees fixed the punishments for the
violations of the rules. Osborne, by means of his personality,
made this such a success that Sing Sing quickly changed from

TREATMENT OF THE CRIMINAL 443

being probably the worst managed penitentiary in the United
States to the model for the country; in fact the success was
so pronounced that Warden Osborne was quickly compelled
to resign. The work, however, was still continued, for Osborne
introduced a system which bids fair to revolutionize our meth-
ods of prison treatment. The honor system is extremely mod-
ern; yet it is spreading very rapidly. It is now being tried
in Indiana with county prisoners in connection with the con-
solidated country or district workhouses or prison farms for
minor offenders.

The whole method of treatment of criminals has greatly
changed. The idea of punishment for an injury done and
revenge for it has vanished. The idea that the treatment of
the criminal must be severe and harsh and his life made as
uncomfortable and depressing as possible has given way to
the idea that while the treatment must be strict and exacting
it must at the same time be humane. The aim must be
to reform the prisoner if possible, but if this cannot be done,
protect society by confining the criminal in a place where
he will be treated humanely, but where he will at least pay
for his support. This idea that the criminal is a person who
cannot respond to humane treatment and justice is now
exploded. He does, as a rule, have some sparks of manhood
left in him, which respond if once reached.

The County Jail. — One phase of the problem of crime
which has been sadly neglected in the past and which per-
haps needs attention now more than any other phase is the
county jail. As a rule the average county jail is a misera-
ble structure, often unsanitary and dangerous to the health of
the prisoners. Then, too, it is used for all purposes — not
only to keep those who are awaiting trial, but to house tramps
and those desiring a night's lodging, whether honest and deserv-
ing or not. It is often used as a place in which to execute
sentences, especially short ones. Here, as a rule, no work
is provided; the prisoner is merely supported in idleness at
public expense, and that to the detriment of his health. All
classes are herded together — boys, hardened criminals, first
offenders, and repeaters. It is much the same problem that
we noticed in regard to the almshouse. Movements are on
foot in some states to consolidate these and have county judges
sentence their short term men to farm colonies, where work
can be found for all and where proper correctional methods,

444 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF1 SOCIOLOGY

such as the. honor system, can be used. In Indiana this is
working out with remarkable success and is certain to be
copied by other states. With the building of proper munici-
pal lodging houses that provide for work the tramp situation
can be properly handled. Formerly the tramp who wanted
a comfortable berth for the winter would hunt up a comfort-
able jail and compel, by committing some petty crime in the
county, that county to care for him till spring. If he knew
that he would have to work hard in some farm colony during
the winter, he would not commit the offense — at least not
in that locality.

Separate Prisons for Women. — Female prisoners always
are a problem because of their small number. In most peni-
tentiaries and prisons there merely are female wards, where
the treatment is much the same as that of men and where
work is provided which is suitable to them, particularly laun-
dry work, and mending. A few states, including New York
and Indiana, have separate prisons and reformatories for
women, the Bedford Reformatory in New York being famous
for its success in reclaiming women. The problem is still
greater in the rural districts where female prisoners are so
rare that it does not pay to build separate accommodations;
when a woman is arrested, it is a problem as to what to do
with her, and often the sheriff has to care for her in his own
house.

An experiment is now being tried out in New York and
Boston in allowing those fined in court to pay their fines by
installments. If it works successfully there, the plan may
spread. Suggestions are often made to allow the person
who steals or commits an injury to recompense the injured
party, or to compel the criminal to repay what damage he
causes. This would be difficult to enforce, yet it is very sug-
gestive. If the plan compelled - the offender to repay out
of wages earned in confinement, it might of course be carried
too far. In general, substitutes for imprisonment are con-
tinually suggested and many of them, such as probation, parole,
and the honor system, have proved themselves worthy of adop-
tion; in times others may win the same recognition.

Scientific Attitude Towards Crime. — The main theory
should be prevention, to prevent the making of criminals
thru environmental causes; to prevent their being developed
by bad industrial, governmental, economic, and social condi-

TREATMENT OF THE CRIMINAL 445

tions; to remove temptation by having a well organized and
efficient government and laws which are enforced by an effi-
cient police force; to have courts that will give justice; to
have economic conditions such as to enable a man to earn a
living wage; to educate the masses so to fit them for life
and citizenship; and thus to make it possible for everyone
to live on a better scale and maintain a higher standard of
life. We should remove social conditions that are drawbacks
to the individual, thus enable each one to reach his best devel-
opment; we should improve the family situation as much
as possible so as to lessen the breaking down of family life.
This can be done by remedying home conditions thru visit-
ing nurses, and by removing women and children from indus-
try — where they are forced into it in order to maintain a
living. We must supply healthful amusements instead of the
saloon, the pool-hall, the gambling room, the dance hall, and
the vulgar theatre. These measures will not prevent crime
entirely; but such a program if carried far enuf will reduce
it to a minimum. This cannot be done in one generation, for
it will take several generations to lift the unfortunate families
to a higher standard. But this is the way to go about elimi-
nating or reducing the criminal population.

At present we have our criminals and therefore we must
deal with them. For doing this a penal system is necessary
— a system to execute the sentences of the courts, to protect
society from dangerous men, and to awaken the public con-
science to the consequences of crime. The keynote of the
methods employed should be reformation — whenever refor-
mation is possible. Such a penal system should include one
or more state penitentiaries and reformatories, the latter for
minor and younger offenders, also reform schools for boys
and girls, and possibly a separate reformatory for women.
Then there should be workhouses under state control, where
the habitual criminals could be deprived of liberty and com-
pelled to work for a living and where the short term men
might serve their sentences instead of in the county jail, as
they do at present. The reform school should be on top of
a good probation system for juveniles; where probation is
applied to adults, probation officers also should be employed.
There should be separate places for the detaining of people
held for other purposes than the working out of sentences,
such as keeping the accused for trial and holding witnesses.

446 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

These should have separate cells and should be held as short
time as possible, especially the witnesses, and should receive
good care. The places of detention used today are often
worse than the places for working out sentences, notably the
Harrison Street police station of Chicago, which is not suit-
able to be used for a dog kennel, much less for the keeping
of human beings. County jails should not be used for the
housing of tramps; these should be cared for in well-equipped
lodging houses, where work should be required in return. The
courts should be equipped with physical and psychological
tests so as to send to hospitals and special institutions those
who need medical attention and to insane asylums and schools
for the feeble-minded those belonging to such institutions.
People of these classes should not be compelled to go to the
jails or reformatories. Then the federal government must
likewise have its system of penitentiaries. The jails and police
stations should make provisions for the care of females and
should have matrons, or at least helpers subject to call when
needed. The treatment of prisoners should be humane but
not attractive. They should be compelled to do useful work.
The public use system previously described has proved itself
in general to be the best system. There should be some way
to pay the prisoners for extra work, so as to allow them to
aid their families if they have any or to save up for the time
when they will be discharged. In the penitentiary at Jack-
son, Michigan, the prisoners are required to do a certain
stint; for what they do beyond that they are paid by the
piece, and thus some earn for themselves as much as one
dollar a day. This gives the prisoner some incentive to work,
and insures the prison against loss. The discipline should
be such that it would build up self-respect and honor in the
prisoner instead of killing all initiative and will-power. The
theory should be not to try to check crime by the severity
of treatment, for that is always a failure, but rather to check
it by the sureness of punishment. A mild punishment which
is certain is feared more than a drastic punishment which
is uncertain. Moreover, the idea should be to try to return
the criminal to a useful place in society. Also the punish-
ment should be fitted to the person rather than the crime.
This will include the indeterminate sentence, and in addition
a good system of probation and parole. Then added to this
should be the honor system for such as are capable of it. In

TREATMENT OF THE CRIMINAL 447

short, prevention of future crime and reformation of our present
criminal class, wherever possible, should be our aim. Where
neither is possible, society should be protected in a humane
and just manner.

READING REFERENCES

LEWIS, B. G., The Offender.

WINES, F. H., Punishment and Reformation, Chaps. III-XI; XIII-XV.

ELIOT, T. D., The Juvenile Court and the Community.

HART, H. H., Juvenile Court Laws in the United States.

FOLKS, HOMER, The Care of Destitute, Neglected and Delinquent

Children.

ASCHAFFENBURG, G., Crime and Its Repression.
SALEHIES, R., The Individualization of Punishment.
HAYES, E. C., Introduction to the Study of Sociology, Chap. XXXIII.
WINES, F. H., State of Prisons and Child Saving Institutions.
HENDERSON, C. R., Outdoor Labor for Convicts.
Prison Reform and Criminal Law.
Reports of National Prison Association.
Reports of International Prison Association.
Reports of Conference of Charities and Corrections.

CHAPTER XXIV
IMMORALITY

Under sexual immorality might be included all the various
forms of sexual crime, such as adultery, incest, rape, and for-
nication, but these specific types come under the subject
of crime and will not be included here. In this chapter the
treatment will be limited to the matter of prostitution, or
what is generally known as the social evil, and its accom-
panying conditions. Even here no attempt will be made to
enter into the sordid details of the conditions or to trace
carefully the history of this problem thru all its horrible past.
Prostitution may or may not be a crime, depending upon the
attitude of society; but in general it is treated as a problem
by itself. Sometimes it is condemned with horrible penalties
and at other times it is permitted and even protected by society,
being in some countries looked upon as a necessary evil.

History. — Prostitution is almost universal, in that it is
found in practically all races and nations, altho in a few
places it seems to be unknown. Many have called it a prob-
lem of civilization, attempting to show that it is not found
among savage tribes, but closer inspection proves that not
only is it not unknown among many savages but with some
it is carefully regulated. With primitive man the demand
or occasion for prostitution was felt much less than with civ-
ilized man, and of course it never reached the high state of
organization and regulation which it has received under civil-
ization. Civilization brings in problems and conditions which
tend to foster it more than primitive life, but prostitution can-
not be said to be a product of civilization. Ancient history
is full of accounts of this evil. In the Old Testament we
find many records of its presence, but it was found not only
among the Hebrews but also among the Babylonians, Egyp-
tians, Assyrians, Phoenecians, and other peoples of Asia. In
Greece prostitution reached terrible proportions, especially in
such cities as Corinth. But it remained for Rome to attain
the climax of degeneracy in this respect ; in fact the prevalence

448

IMMORALITY 449

and terribleness of this evil in the latter days of Roman his-
tory are almost unbelievable. In Europe during the Middle
Ages and down to the present day prostitution has continued
and has been a problem of varying proportions. During this
time it probably reached its height in France at the time of
the Bourbon monarchy, encouraged and influenced by the ter-
rible excesses in this line by the monarchs themselves; in fact
the whole line of French kings, with possibly a few exceptions,
have been noted for their immorality. But then all of the
monarchs and nobles of Europe during this entire period
were noted for the same failing, the only difference being
that possibly the French monarchs led the procession. Pros-
titution is by no means a thing of the past; it is a problem
today in practically all nations of the earth, and is especially
bad in France, Germany, and Japan; it is probably less of
a problem in the United States than in most nations, especially
in that it is a diminishing problem with us.

Causes of Prostitution. — Supply and Demand. — Pros-
titution, like many problems of society, is subject to the great
economic principle of supply and demand, man furnishing
the demand curve and woman the supply curve. The selfish-
ness of the male in his desire to satisfy his sexual passions
at the expense of and contrary to the normal conventions
of society and his unwillingness or inability to control this
desire constitute the demand side. This is increased largely
by the mistaken but too frequently believed notion that sexual
indulgence is essential to the health of the adult male. This
theory has long since been exploded by science but still per-
sists with many people, and as a result adds enormously to
this demand.

The supply side is made up of women recruited by society
to live lives of shame in order to meet this demand made by
the male. In ancient times the supply was furnished by the
slave populations, from whom the prostitutes were enlisted,
being either sold into that life or forced into it by their mas-
ters, abductors, or seducers. This was particularly true of
Greece and Rome, which were filled with huge slave popu-
lations. When cities were captured in wars, the women and
children, as a rule, were sold into slavery, and naturally a
large percentage of the female slaves, who were young and
attractive, were forced into this life. At times there were
passed laws forcing women into this life, such as those con-
- (N)

450 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

demning Christian virgins to lives of prostitution if they
refused to worship the Roman gods, a situation which occurred
in Rome during the early days of Christianity. Laws were
also passed in Corinth compelling slaves to prostitute them-
selves for a trifling fee, in order to attract sailors to that
place. Rome was crowded with an idle class — gladiators,
ruffians, soldiers, and a floating population which contrib-
uted to the terrible moral conditions. In the Middle Ages
the army of prostitutes was made up' largely of aliens, who
had been captured thru petty wars and abused by the sol-
diers, abducted by robbers or ruined by the nobility, and
the neglected children of the unfortunate classes. Europe was
.also full of a floating population — travelers, soldiers of for-
tune, etc., who added to the natural demand. In modern
times the prostitute is usually a citizen who has been induced
into the trade or forced to accept it by modern conditions
of society. In modern times, too, thru the growth of great
cities and industrial centers we find a constantly increasing
class of unmarried adults, who add to the demand. There
have, moreover, always been moral perverts, who have delib-
erately chosen lives of shame or by their own actions have
been forced by society into an open confession of such a
life. These are the natural prostitutes, but they unfortunately
have generally furnished only a small part of the number
of prostitutes. The demand, if strong and persistent enuf,
will create a supply; in fact, as we have just pointed out,
it has done that in the past by drawing from the ranks of
slavery and of alien populations, and is doing it today by
drawing from the ranks of organized society.

Biological and Psychological Causes. — These have been
largely suggested in our treatment of demand and supply;
they are found mainly in human passions and in the lack
of ability to control or hold the passions in check. Also
there must always be considered the desire for finery and lux-
ury on the part of the female; the fact that prostitution offers
an easy method of procuring these luxuries often causes many
to take up this life. The desire for excitement and the temp-
tation to do the forbidden are also factors. Then as we shall
see in the next chapter, a large percentage of the present-day
prostitutes are feeble-minded and consequently lack the ability
to control their natures and to withstand temptation. In the
past prostitutes have been largely ignorant, illiterate persons,
with the exception of those who were forced into it by slavery

IMMORALITY 45 1

and other violent methods. The natural prostitutes enter
the profession from biological or psychological reasons, because
of innate or acquired perversities of nature. These causes
are undoubtedly stronger on the demand side than upon the
supply side, because the demand is more biological and psy-
chological.

Economic Causes. — Among the present day economic
causes are such conditions as low wages, the large mone-
tary returns from this life, and our present industrial sit-
uation. The wages paid by many of the employers of female
labor, such as department stores, are not living wages and
hence either compel their being supplemented by other means
or force the worker to live on a scale which means malnutri-
tion, lack of amusement, insufficient clothing, and a dreari-
ness of existence which at times becomes unendurable. To
the worker who has no other means of supplementing a
slender income prostitution unfortunately offers an easy method
of obtaining more money. While the majority of women will
of course prefer starvation to such a means of livelihood,
the pressure of poverty and the tremendous temptation is
often too much for some with weaker powers of control. Then
too often there apparently is no hope of bettering the condi-
tion, and the worker who at first abhors such a life weakens
and succumbs to temptation.

Besides, under our present industrial regime there is unfor-
tunately a large male population in our cities and industrial
centers, whose earnings are for years — in fact often for life

— too small to support a family upon the scale which their
standard of living demands; as a result marriage is post-
poned or renounced. In order to satisfy their passions, they

— many of them — frequent houses of prostitution and thus
keep up the demand side. Under our present program of
educating people to the dangers from disease this demand
is slowly being cut down, but in the past this element has
been a strong factor in the problem. It has been increased
by the absence of restraint in the way of relatives and neigh-
bors who know what people are doing, a source of restraint
which is found in rural neighborhoods.

Compulsion. — As in the past, this is still a cause of prosti-
tution, altho of course not to the extent it was under slavery
and mediaeval conditions. Compulsion is both direct and
indirect. The demand for women to fill the ranks of pros-
titutes who die has caused the organization of what is gen-

452 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

erally known as the "white slave traffic", by which women
are forced into this life. Because of the efforts of the gov-
ernment to break up this traffic it is not carried on in such
a bold and successful manner as formerly. But heretofore
this business was organized like any legitimate business, hav-
ing its corps or cadets and procurers, who either by means
of trickery, such as offering positions of work, promises of
marriage, or mock marriages, beguiled innocent victims into
this life, or by kidnapping and coercion, filled the ranks with
recruits. Immigrant women and country girls coming to the
city were the ones preyed upon the most because of their ignor-
ance of the new conditions and dangers and because of their
consequent inability to cope with them. Those receiving star-
vation wages were also sought and enticed into this life. Often
victims, were simply captured and reduced to submission by
force and violence. Houses of prostitution regularly used
means, including chains, the lash, starvation, depriving of
clothing, and employment of ruffians, to reduce to submission
these recruits. So well organized was the traffic that regular
prices were paid for girls, ranging from fifty to one hundred
dollars each depending upon the attractiveness of the girl.
Girls who lapsed from the paths of virtue were also forced
into this life by family and social ostracism, altho the men
who ruined them were permitted to remain in the best society.
Compulsion has always been used to keep women in this
life after they had once entered it, direct, forceful means
being used by the brothel keeper to hold their inmates and
indirect, subtle ostracism being employed by society to force
back into this life all who ever followed it.

Effects of Immorality. — 1. Disease. — The two leading
diseases, classed in the group of "social diseases", are syph-
ilis and gonorrhea, both of which date back to antiquity.
Both are germ diseases, the former being contracted thru blood
contact and the latter thru the tissues. While both are the
results of immorality, syphilis may be contracted in other
ways than sexual intercourse, such as common drinking cups,
kissing, towels, bed clothing, and water-closet seats, but gon-
orrhea is seldom contracted in such a manner. Both can be
cured by long and patient treatment, but generally this is
not done and as a rule the poison remains dormant in the
system, often years after the disease has been apparently
cured. This is especially true of syphilis, which has the
peculiarity of appearing by stages, which are often many years

IMMORALITY 453

apart. While syphilis is generally feared because of its hor-
rible features in the last stages of the disease, and while gon-
orrhea is often looked upon as a local disease and of minor
importance, even at times being considered as of much the
same nature as a cold, gonorrhea is in fact much the more
serious disease of the two, both in regard to its effects upon
society and because of its insusceptibility to cure. If prop-
erly administered, "606", discovered by Paul Erletch, is con-
sidered a quite dependable cure for syphilis, but as yet no
such remedy is available for gonorrhea. The effects of both
diseases upon the offspring are terrible. Eight per cent of
infantile blindness is due to these diseases, both of them
being guilty. Syphilis is especially deadly to the foetus, caus-
ing its death or malformation; in fact hospital records show
death rates as high as sixty to eighty-six per cent for children
when the parents were afflicted with syphilis. While less
destructive to the offspring, gonorrhea is more serious to
the wife and more destructive to the female organs of repro-
duction; it is the leading cause of male sterility today. In
addition to one-child marriages, where conception took place
before the ravages of diseases were affected, nearly sixty per
cent of all involuntary sterile marriages are due to these
two diseases. Also sixty per cent of all operations upon
women for female troubles are occasioned by sexual diseases.
Both have hereditary effects; in fact the effects of syphilis
are inherited to the third generation. Then, too, both dis-
eases weaken the constitution and thus leave the system liable
to such diseases as tuberculosis, cancer, and nervous disorders.
When it is remembered that it is generally estimated that
from six to eighteen per cent of the male populations of differ-
ent countries have syphilis and from twenty-five to seventy-
five per cent have gonorrhea, the seriousness of the problem
is apparent. Gonorrhea is perhaps the most widespread dis-
ease among men; European records show that a few years
ago seventy-five per cent of the men had it. It has been
estimated in the past that from fifty to sixty per cent of
the men in the United States have either one or the other
disease. This ratio has fallen during the past few years
and will probably continued to fall with still greater rapidity,
owing largely to education concerning the matter and to the
increasingly greater demands made by women upon the men
they marry. The effects upon the birth-rate of nations, as
well as upon the health of individuals and the morals of

454 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

society, is, of course, terrible. This is probably the greatest
cause of the decreasing birth-rate in France. Without ques-
tion the disease side is the most glaring, if not the most seri-
ous, effect of the social evil.

2. Business Organization. — As has been suggested, pros-
titution has caused the organization of brothels, which date
back to ancient history, and regular methods of supplying
the trade with women, now commonly known as the "white
slave traffic". This organization has interwoven itself with
many other enterprises. It was vitally connected with the
liquor traffic, which made use of prostitution in order to sell
more liquor; prostitution in turn made use of liquor in order
to stir up the passions of people. Many saloons catered to
this traffic because of the increased profits, large prices being
obtained in this way for liquor; and prostitutes were often
hired by saloons in order to stimulate the sale of liquor.
The traffic is also interwoven with politics and police admin-
istrations, and makes use of them in defending and protect-
ing the business in much the same manner that the liquor
business does.

3. Family Disorganization. — While not always mentioned
in the bills for divorce, sexual disease and immorality are
among the greatest causes of divorce and the breaking up
of homes. The laws of nearly all modern nations recog-
nize this as sufficient ground for divorce. It is also a cause
of much marital unhappiness and neglect of children even
when homes are not broken up.

4. Effect Upon Mvrals. — Perhaps the greatest effects,
altho not the easiest to point out, is the effect upon the morals
of society. It is responsible for the "double standard" which
has existed from patriarchal times down to the present day
and which has not been abolished to any great extent even
now. Under this system man could do as he pleased, be
as immoral as he cared to, and yet pass in the best of society;
but if woman departed from the paths of chastity in the
slightest, she was immediately ostracized. Women themselves
have been much more severe in this ostracism than have
men, accepting this condition among men as a matter of
course, but never forgiving it in members of their own sex.
In many sections of this country, especially in the Southern
states, this double standard is still binding, and in no place
has it been entirely dispensed with. But there is a tendency
towards a single standard for both sexes; it is being acquired

IMMORALITY 455

not only by insisting upon a higher standard for men, but
unfortunately by lowering the standard for women.

The moral effect extends to all phases of our life. It has
corrupted police forces; it has adulterated our business and
legal ethical codes. It has not only corrupted those who are
connected with the evil, but it has affected the morals of
the whole social fabric. How great has been this moral degen-
eracy we cannot say, because it does not lend itself to meas-
urement; but without the social evil our morals should be
on a vastly higher plane.

Treatment of Prostitution. — Society has always recog-
nized prostitution as an evil and has continually taken steps
to eliminate, check, control, or regulate it This attempt
cannot be discussed cronologically, because several methods
generally are found at the same period of time, even in the
same country. Also it cannot be treated altogether by coun-
tries, because most countries have tried several methods. We
can, however, sum up our treatment under three heads: repres-
sion, regulation, and prevention.

1. Repression. — At first this was largely done thru the
family, it has been the usual method of procedure in patri-
archal countries. This was done in order to protect the
purity of the family, it generally consisted in putting to death
or ostracizing the offending woman, no attention being paid
to the offending man. This was the Jewish method of hand-
ling the problem, altho the Jews treated it from the religious
point of view as well as the family one. Thruout the Middle
Ages there were passed at different times and in various places
laws and ordinances against prostitution. The bulk of these
were aimed at the woman in much the same manner that
laws were made against criminals and beggars. The pros-
titute was whipped, branded, put into a cage and ducked
until nearly dead from drowning, compelled to wear distin-
guishing dress, imprisoned, and exposed — often naked — to
the public gaze and torment. But all these measures failed
because no attempt was made to prevent the conditions which
produced the evil. Yet this method still persists, especially
in the United States thru the method of imposing fines and
imprisonment. While it probably has some effect in checking
or holding the evil within bounds, it cannot solve the problem.

2. Regulation. — Considering the problem as a more or
less necessary evil, many countries have attempted to regulate
it in order to minimize the evil and to protect society. This

456 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

policy is found in an elementary way in Greece and Rome,
and is also found among some primitive peoples. It was
tried out in mediaeval times in various places in Europe in
order to keep in check vicious conduct on the part of citizen
women, and was thus an attempt to protect the famiiles of
citizens, to preserve public order, and to derive revenue.
Houses of prostitution were legalized, in fact often licensed,
and prostitutes were compelled either to live in certain sec-
tions of the towns or to wear a distinguishing dress, such as
a badge. The revenues obtained were made use of not only
by civic but even by religious bodies. These restrictions were
levied in order to make the trade less profitable and to lessen
the temptation, as well as to fill 4he treasury. In modern
times regulation has been tried to protect not only the family
but also the patron of the prostitute from disease; in fact,
the chief feature of modern regulation has been the attempt
to prevent infection from disease. For years France and Ger-
many have licensed prostitutes, Paris adopting the custom
of licensing in 1828, altho long before that time lists of pros-
titutes had been kept. In both Paris and Berlin weekly or
bi-weekly examination of prostitutes for disease is made, and
enforced treatment is provided in case disease is found. While
attempts are made to list all prostitutes, Paris is said to hav?
from fifty to sixty thousand prostitutes while only about six
thousand are registered; for Berlin the figures are from twenty
to thirty thousand with only 3,300 registered. Also the
attempt to stamp out and prevent the infection from disease
is a failure, because those who know they have disease do
not register and generally escape detection, for a time at least,
and also because examination does not always reveal the
presence of disease. At first the listing of prostitutes led
to many abuses, often forcing women into this life when they
slipped from the paths of chastity, or even at times upon
suspicion that they had done so. Now, however, attempts
are made to prevent the novice from entering this life by the
police, who have charge of these lists; in fact minors are
enrolled only when they are known to be depraved, and
attempts are made to permit those capable of reform to
re-enter the ranks of society. The present trend is towards
the abandonment of the policy of state regulation, as a means
of dealing with prostitution. Many countries have some such
regulation, but it is now being used because the officials do
not know any better method of handling the evil. Modern

IM MORALITY 457

regulation generally includes some form of segregation, the
prostitutes being either compelled to live in certain sections
of the city, or forbidden to enter certain sections, in the hope
of thus limiting contamination and thereby protecting the
rest of society. This has been as far as regulation in the
United States has extended, and as a result of this, coupled
with economic conditions, there have developed in practically
every large city in the United States at various times segre-
gated vice districts, some cities, such as New York, often
having several such districts. Many American cities have at
various times and in different ways adopted, for a while at
least, methods of licensing houses of prostitution, as, for exam-
ple, by means of the payment of fines at regular intervals.
More frequently, however, this has followed the method of
graft in connection with politicians and police. The most
of the leading cities in the United States have abolished their
segregated districts; and the results have been more than
favorable, altho at times the action apparently has not
improved the situation, because it has forced prostitutes more
upon the street and into residential districts and thus has
made the problem more conspicuous even if the results are
not so bad. When segregated districts are abolished, this law
has to be supplemented by measures to prevent street walk-
ing and the scattering of the prostitutes in other parts of the
city. On the whole, regulation does not regulate; at least
it does not regulate satisfactorily.

3. Prevention. — As in other social problems, present
efforts are directed towards prevention of prostitution rather
than to its suppression or regulation. While this problem
can never be entirely removed as long as human nature is
as it is at present — for people will always sin and there will
always be some too weak to resist temptation — the worst
features of the situation can be eliminated and the evil can
be minimized. Already the worst phases, especially the worst
features of the "white slave traffic", have been greatly reduced;
no longer does this business loom up as the terrible menace
to unprotected womanhood that it formerly did. The per-
centage of men who patronize the houses of prostitution has
also greatly diminished. Two methods are now being used
for prevention: (1) education of the people to the dangers
of prostitution and (2) the removal of the causes of prosti-
tution.

(a). Education. — In the past not only were young people

458 INTRODUCTION TO THE PKlNCIPLfiS OF SOCIOLOGY

kept by their parents in ignorance of the dangers but anything
bearing on the subject was strictly tabooed as a subject of
conversation in polite society. Not only did parents allow
their sons to go out into the world without any knowledge
of the dangers from disease, but they permitted their daugh-
ters to be exposed to the dangers of abduction and seduction
by the various arms of the "white slave traffic", and also
permitted them to marry men infected with venereal disease,
often in its worst forms; thus they permitted them to enter
upon lives of humiliation and suffering, to say nothing of the
effect upon the next generation. Seldom did even the most
conscientious parents instruct their children in these matters;
instead they forced them to obtain for themselves this infor-
mation, either from some vile and unscientific source or thru
their own personal experience. It is no wonder that their
sons visited houses of prostitution in order to satisfy their
curiosity and that they in the majority of cases become infected
with venereal diseases or that their daughters either married
men similarity infected or were caught by the nets set by
the traffkers. No more glaring example of the failure of
parents to carry out their duty to their children has probably
ever existed than this failure to instruct in regard to the
dangers and temptations of this evil. Girls were not even
supposed to know that such an evil as prostitution even
existed; their minds were supposed to be kept in a pure
state, at least until it came time for them to suffer by it, as
a large per cent, if not the majority of them, were forced to
do sooner or later. Fortunately for society these sins of
parents are becoming a thing of the past. Society no longer
taboos instruction upon these subjects, and the present gen-
eration is much more capable of resisting this evil. However,
because of the failure of many to teach concerning this sub-
ject in the home (where such instruction especially belongs),
modern schools are attempting to give some instruction along
this line. As yet this has seldom been effectively done because
of the inability of teachers to satisfactorily handle this mat-
ter. Books and magazine articles are written upon the sub-
ject and these reach the general public. Churches and relig-
ious organizations are also imparting knowledge on the topic;
they are often too late, however, to do much good, and pos-
sibly they fail to reach those who need it the most because
of the inability of the church to reach them. In former times
ministers knew little about society; at least the seminaries

IMMORALITY 459

gave them no preparation of this sort — and they were incap-
able of dealing with the problem; but now the seminaries
are slowly, if somewhat reluctantly, giving the ministerial stu-
dents instruction which will be of practical use to them in
the ministry. In this way ministers are becoming more able
to grapple with the problem. In short, the members of the
coming generation are getting some instruction as to the dan-
gers of the evil, instruction -which their parents and grand-
parents did not receive. In the past men always demanded
chastity from the women they married. Now women are com-
mencing to demand the same of the men they marry, and in
the future women will in all probability be as strict in this
regard as men are. This will probably go further towards
doing away with the evil than any thing else, for if men
know that it will be practically impossible to marry the women
they want to if they have lived improper lives, they will be
extremely careful in regard to sowing their wild oats. Then,
too, if men know the dangers of disease and the effects of
it upon their wives and children, they will again be more care-
ful in regard to the lives they live. In the past they were
ignorant of these dangers till it generally was too late. As
a crystallization of public opinion along this line, some of
our states have passed — and in all probability in the future
more will pass — so-called "eugenic laws" forbidding the mar-
riage of people infected with venereal disease. At present
most of these laws have defects and are poorly enforced, but
the coming years will probably see the remedying of these
defects. Education of the people is necessary before we
can expect the enactment of adequate laws or the enforce-
ment of them after enactment. Education offers us the most
effective means of combatting this evil.

(b). Removal of the Causes. — After we understand the
problem and know what conditions contribute to the produc-
tion of the evil, then we can effectively deal with them. Along
this line comes the adoption of minimum wage scales, espe-
cially for women, in order to remove the terrible temptation
of economic necessity. Proper building laws and the removal
of slum conditions will be of tremendous value, because in
many of our present tenements life is so sordid and privacy
is so hard to obtain that vice is constantly being manufactured
in them. The government has already taken steps to pro-
tect immigrant women. Y. W. C. A. organizations are also
aiding in the protecting of girls coming to cities, as are also

460 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

all our settlements. The "white slave traffic" is being prose-
cuted more and more vigorously; but we need yet stricter
laws, greater penalties, and still more vigorous prosecution.
Parks, playgrounds, social centers, and settlements are fur-
nishing more healthful recreation than formerly was obtain-
able, and so the sordidness and loneliness of the life of the
wage-earner is being reduced. As education upon the subject
spreads, we can expect to find more and more successful
efforts for the removal of the causes of prostitution.

While in the past efforts were aimed at the supply without
paying any attention to the demand side, modern methods
are striking at the demand for prostitution and are thus
aiming at the real cause of the problem. If the demand is
eliminated the supply will automatically disappear. While
the problem can never be entirely removed, it is by no means
hopeless and can be reduced to a minimum.

Due to the recent war we have done much towards the
elimination of this evil by curing the disease found among
the soldiers, by educating the soldiers and the civilian popu-
lation to the dangers, and compelling cities near army camps
to clean up their vice districts.

READING REFERENCES

MORROW, PRINCE A., Social Diseases and Marriage.

DOCK, LAVINIA L,., Hygiene and Morality.

CHICAGO VICE COMMISSION, The Social Evil in Chicago, 1911.

NEW YORK COMMITTEE OP FOURTEEN, The Social Evil, 1910.

COCKS, ORRIN G., The Social Evil and Methods of Treatment.

KNEELAND, GEORGE J., Commercialized Prostitution in New York City,

1913.

SELIGMAN, EDWIN R. A., The Social Evil.
FLEXNER, ABRAHAM, The Regulation of Prostitution in Europe.
SANGER, WILLIAM W., History of Prostitution.
ADDAMS, JANE, A New Conscience and an Ancient Evil.

CHAPTER XXIV
DEFECTIVES

A problem which attracts very little attention but which
is one of the most serious confronting the American people
is that of feeble-mindedness. And what is still more to be
wondered at, this is a problem which lends itself easily to
treatment; in fact the danger from it can be easily prevented,
for the plan of treatment has been more or less definitely
worked out.

The first question which confronts us in this subject is,
What is feeble-mindedness? Where are we going to draw the
line? In certain communities a person might be perfectly
able to keep up the pace, but when transferred to an environ-
ment where the pace is faster he might be classed as sub-
normal. In one class in school a pupil might be able to
do very good work, but if he should be transferred to a brighter
division he might immediately become the dunce. The pace
might be so much faster that it would make it impossible
for the pupil in question not only to keep up but even to
accomplish anything. In other words, the question is to
a great extent a relative one. Yet by means of the Biner
tests there have been marked out three more or less definite
classes of defectives, according to the mental age of the person ;
that is, according as a person passes these tests with the
same agility and accuracy as shown by a normal child of a
given age. It is not that the defective knows only as much
as a child of that age, for a feeble-minded person who has
the age of eight years remain at the age of eight for the
rest of his life, while the normal child is eight but one year,
moving on to nine, and during that one year he cannot acquire
so much as the feeble-minded acquires in the twenty or thirty
years that he remains at that age, during which time he may
acquire quite a fund of information — that is, such informa-
tion as an eight year old would be able to acquire. The class-
ification is rrade on the basis of mental ability. The three
classes in which feeble-minded are divided are as follows:

461

462 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

1. Idiots, or those who never exceed the mentality pos-
sessed by the normal child of three years. They not only
have little use or understanding of language but are unable
to guard themselves against common dangers, such as falling
into fire. Some are not able to walk, to sit up, or even to
know when they are hungry or cold. The writer well remem-
bers a ward in the feeble-minded school at Waverly, Massa-
chusetts, in which there were a score or more of this class,
the majority of whom would starve to death with food all
around them, or freeze unless pains were taken to see that
they were covered up and kept warm. In other words, they
were great babies and had to be cared for as such. It is
this class in regard to which the question is always brot up,
Would it not be better quietly to put them out of their misery?
This class composes about ten per cent of the feeble-minded
population.

2. Imbeciles, or those possessing minds of children from
three to eight years of age. People of this class are able to
protect themselves against the ordinary dangers of life, such
as being run over by a team, falling into fire, or falling and
injuring themselves, but they do not possess sufficient brain
power to do the commonplace work of life. They are able
to play if the play is directed; they can easily be made happy,
but they are unable to master more than the bare rudiments
'of an education, never being able even to read or write with
any fluency or speed. They form a class which is not able
to take care of itself in ordinary society but which is very
easily cared for in the proper institutions.

3. Morons, or those having mentalities of from eight to
twelve. They are able to do the ordinary work of life, to do
customary tasks, and in general to pass in society without
attracting much attention. But for this very reason this
class is the most dangerous of all, for it is the one which
furnishes many of the criminals, a large percentage of our
prostitutes, the delinquent children in our juvenile courts and
reform schools, and the dull and backward children in our
schools. Morons lack the will power to keep out of trouble;
they have not the mental firmness to resist temptation, for

463

to be moral or law abiding requires a certain amount of
strength of mind. It is this class which is not cared for
by our feeble-minded schools, and it is this class which is the
dangerous one to society, for it is this one, whose members
reproduce so rapidly. The idiot does not reproduce and the
imbecile seldom mates, but the moron not only does marry
but — what is more serious — reproduces out of wedlock.

Extent of Feeble-Mindedness. — As to the extent of
feeble-mindedness we have no reliable figures or percentage
of the population to offer, estimates varying from one-third
of one per cent to three and four per cent of out popula-
tion; probably two per cent is the number that is most nearly
accurate, and this would include many high grade morons
who sometimes manage to care for themselves. The danger
is not with our present number but in the rapidity with which
it is increasing. While from eighty-five to ninety-five per
cent of our insane are cared for in insane asylums, only from
ten to fifteen per cent of the feeble-minded are so cared for;
in fact we do not know just how many feeble-minded there
are. We do not fear them physically in the way we do the
insane, for in that sense they are harmless. While each thou-
sand of the most fit of our population produce in fifty years
667 descendants, each thousand of the least fit produce 3,650
descendants, or almost six times as many. The moron has
the physique, the passions, and the power to reproduce, but
he lacks the ability to control his passions, and as a result
he secures a large progeny. Now every defective is not only
a potential delinquent but a probable one, depending upon
the hands into which he falls.

Feeble-Mindedness and Crime and Vice. — At present
we have no control over the feeble-minded until he or she
becomes delinquent; control is by means of the reform school,
reformatory, or workhouse. From one- fourth to one-half of
the children appearing before the juvenile courts are mentally
deficient; our reformatories and reform schools are full of
them. Following are a few results of tests or of estimates
of the superintendents as to the per cent of feeble-mindedness
in some of our leading reformatories:1

^oddard, "Feeble-Mindedness, Its Causes and Consequences", p. 9.

464 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES Of SOCIOLOGY

Per Cent
Institution — Defective

St. Cloud Reformatory, Minnesota . — 54

Rahway Reformatory, New Jersey (Binet test) 46

Bedford Reformatory, New York, (under 11 years) 80

Lancaster, Massachusetts (girls' reformatory) 60

Lancaster, Massachusetts (SO paroled girls) 82

Lyman School for Boys, Westboro, Massachusetts 28

Pentonville, Illinois, Juveniles 40

Massachusetts Reformatory, Concord 52

Newark, New Jersey, Juvenile Court 66

Elmira Reformatory, New York 70

Geneva, Illinois, (Binet test) 89

Ohio Boys School (Binet test) 70

Ohio Girls School (Binet test) 70

Virginia, Three Reformatories (Binet test) 79

New Jersey State Home for Girls 75

Glen Mills Schools, Pennsylvania, Girls' Dept 72

It will be noticed that the percentage of feeble-minded is
higher, as a rule, in the female schools than in the male insti-
tutions. This is owing to the fact that the feeble-minded
girl is more liable to get into trouble than the feeble-minded
boy; tho it might seem from the data given above that there
are more feeble-minded girls than boys, the opposite is true.
Feeble-minded girls have less will power and are the prey
of unscrupulous men, while the defective man has little attrac-
tion for the normal woman. It is generally estimated that
fully fifty per cent of our prostitutes are mentally defective.
Goddard asserts that at least fifty per cent of the criminals
are mentally defective, altho it is more generally estimated
that from twenty-five to fifty per cent are such. Feeble-
minded people are not by nature more vicious or criminal
than other people; in fact the contrary is true. The ordinary
mentally defective person is docile and easy to manage. The
trouble with them as a class is that they lack control; they
are unable to withstand temptation, and so fall easily into
vice or crime. They are unable to distinguish clearly between
right and wrong, and instead of being regarded as ordinary
criminals they should be treated as children or as insane, and
should not be held accountable for their actions. The feeble-
minded person has the body of an adult but the mind of a
child, and it is illogical and unjust to expect as much from
him as from a normal adult.

The same situation is true of the mentally defective in
regard to alcoholism. Since there is less ability to withstand

DEFECTIVES 465

temptation, the feeble-minded person readily falls a victim
to drink. Now since the liquor traffic has been eliminated in
the United States, this temptation is of course removed in this
country. Under the old order of things every feeble-minded
person was a potential drunkard. All that was needed was
to put him in the way of temptation.

Feeble-mindedness and Poverty. — The connection of
feeble-mindedness with poverty and pauperism is much the
same as with crime. The feeble-minded person lacks the men-
tal capacity to make a living. Under our present economic
system the race is for the strong, and the weak are ground
under the feet of the strong. The idiot is incapable of doing
anything and must become a public or a private charge..
The imbecile is able to do simple things but never prepared
really to support himself under his own direction. The moron
is able to work at ordinary labor but is incapable of planning
things and is therefore unable to direct his life in a sane and
logical manner. All of these classes sooner or later are com-
pelled to look to others for help. Some are aided by relatives
but others become public charges. In nearly all of our states
under the present requirements for marriage the moron and
at times even the imbecile is permitted to marry and thus
add to the problem. Some of these might be able to look
after themselves or to earn enuf to do so, but when it comes
to the question of supporting a family, it is impossible for
him to be successful. Then added to this is the complicating
fact already discussed that feeble-minded people have large
families. Many of these make out a wretched existence in
some broken down dwelling, suffering in winter from cold
and privation. Their hardships are sometimes alleviated by
neighbors and friends, but the problem remains unsolved.
Others fall back upon the almshouse or public relief. God-
dard thinks that it is highly probable that fifty per cent of
the pauperism in this country is due to mental defectiveness.1
As we indicated before, feeble-mindedness is a matter of degree,
it being hard to draw the line at times between those who
are defective and those who are normal. As a result of this
it is believed that many, if not the majority, of our ne'er-
do-wells are such because they lack the mental capacity to
be anything else. Tho they may have the ability to work,
they usually lack the ability to plan life intelligently. Their

1Goddard, "Feeble-Mindedness, Its Causes and Consequences", p. 17.

466 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

judgment is inaccurate, and their mental capacity is so low
that they are unable to adjust themselves to their environ-
ment. They may be able to get along during prosperity but
when difficulties arise they are incapable of surmounting them.

Feeble-mindedness and Education. — Our schools are
full of pupils who are dull and unable to learn. While many
of them are such because of laziness, poor health, insufficient
food, and lack of care, others are backward for the simple
reason that they are defective mentally. They have not the
ability to learn in the same way that the normal child acquires
knowledge. They cannot think in abstract terms and they
are slow of comprehension or weak in memory, being unable
to recall tomorrow what they learn today. These pupils clog
the schools and slow up the system. It sometimes seems
almost useless to try to teach such pupils; they simply are
unable to make any progress in the ordinary school system.
The presence of such children is not only an injustice to
themselves, since they need special attention, but a hardship
to the normal students, who are held back by them and whose
education is thus handicapped.

The problem of truancy is another in which feeble-mind-
edness is involved. Many children become truants because
they cannot succeed in school.

Causes of Feeble-mindedness. — It is extremely difficult,
if not impossible, to ascertain the exact importance of each
of the various causes of feeble-mindedness. The alleged cause
is often not the true cause. But the best authorities agree
in saying that at least two-thirds of all feeble-mindedness is
due to heredity — to the presence of bad stock. Feeble-mind-
edness is a characteristic which can be treated as a unit char-
acteristic; as such it has been found to obey the laws of
Mendelism, and is thus inherited in the same as other char-
acteristics. If the mentally defective were not allowed to
propagate, we should stamp out at one blow two-thirds of
our future feeble-mindedness. The other third is due to many
causes, such as accident. There is a type of feeble-minded-
ness, known as the Mongolian, because of the resemblance
to Mongolian physical characteristics, which comes more often
from the better families than from the poorer or less capa-
ble families. It apparently cannot be explained, except in
individual cases. Sometimes the mental defect is due to mal-
nutrition before birth, or to a blow or accident to the foetus:
sometimes it is attributed to hard labor or the use of instru-

DEFECTIVES 467

ments at birth. Yet often under such circumstances the child
is perfectly normal. In investigations made by Goddard nine-
teen per cent of the causes were attributed to accidents, of
which 8.2 per cent happened before birth and 10.6 per cent
after birth. Of the latter 5.3 per cent were attributed to
spinal meningitis, which in the past has been a common dis-
ease and one which was extremely fatal. It is estimated
that the mortality ran as high as seventy-five per cent and
that of the twenty-five per cent who survived, ninety-seven
per cent became mentally defective. Under present methods
of treatment the mortality has been reduced to twenty-five
per cent, but the number who are affected mentally is as yet
undetermined, probably being far less. Syphilis is another
cause, but due to difficulty in obtaining data, the exact per-
centage is unobtainable. Consanguinity has been suggested
as a cause, but investigation does not confirm this sugges-
tion. If the stock was good it seldom has any bad effect,
but does when the stock is questionable; in short, consan-
guinity may increase feeble-mindedness, but seldom causes it.
Treatment of Feeble-mindedness. — In the past the
treatment of feeble-minded persons was that of neglect. Those
unable to care for themselves were either left to the care of
their relatives or were thrust into almshouses, along with all
other dependents. They were the prey of the stronger or
became the object of sport of the community. The town
fool has always been a familiar figure and is so even to this
day, an object for torment by all the boys of the community.
Those who were unable to do anything generally were left
to the public to support. Special schools for the feeble-minded
have existed for a long time, for upwards of a century, in
fact, but the trouble has been that all who belong there have
not been sent there. In the United States especially we have
no laws compelling their segregation and they have been so
cared for only when their relatives were willing and when there
was plenty of room in special institutions. Another great
difficulty has been that the institutions have not had the room
to care for the feeble-minded population, having waiting lists
longer than the lists of inmates; moreover, those who have
been admitted have generally been the idiots and low grade
imbeciles who were a burden to the relative to care for and
so were not wanted. They, as a matter of fact, are the least
important, for it makes little difference whether they live
or not, and then they never reproduce. The ones who most

468 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

need to be confined — the high-grade imbeciles and the morons
— are cared for least; and yet it is in them that the princi-
pal danger lies. It might not be a bad plan for the idiots
to be moved out of our special schools and left in the alms-
houses or cared for by the towns or counties and for the
schools for feeble-minded to be reserved for the care of the
higher classes. If parents object there is usually no control
at all, and many parents so object thru ignorance, not know-
ing that the child is better off in an institution where he is
protected from those with whom he is unable to compete.

The modern theory of treatment is to take these unfor-
tunates off the body politic, protect them, make their lives
as happy as possible, train them to the extent their minds
will allow, and make them useful and either self-supporting
or as nearly so as their capacity will permit. The boys in
the brick yard of the New Jersey school for the feeble-minded
at Vineland cost the state only about sixty-nine dollars apiece
and produce one hundred dollars worth of brick apiece. In
the other departments the school is nearly self-supporting:
in some, more than self-supporting. Most well managed
schools for the feeble-minded do nearly all their own work,
produce most of their commodities, and sell besides some arti-
cles for outside consumption; so their cost of upkeep is very
small. Work is made as pleasant and congenial as possible,
most of the work being done as part of a game. Children
alternate their work so as to avoid monotony, spending an
hour or so in the school room, then an hour or so in the cob-
bler's shop or in whatever place they work, then an hour in
play, with a competent instructor; then perhaps they are
next sent to the school room again, and then they work or
play, in this manner taking up all the time; moreover the
study or work is not allowed to grow wearisome. In the mat-
ter of instruction less is accomplished than in the teaching
of them to be efficient workers, but by means of a play method
a great deal is done. Madame Montessori borrowed from a
Paris school for feeble-minded the system which she gave to
the world; it is merely an adaptation to the normal child of
methods which for over seventy years had been in vogue for
the teaching of the feeble-minded. Senses of feeling, tasting,
and smelling are brot into use to supplement that of sight.
Instead of dealing with abstract ideas or with imaginary
things, the instructors use instead loaves of bread, bricks, or
apples; they so manipulate these that the child will readily

DEFECTIVES 469

grasp the point. Such children should never be compelled
to do things, but taught to want to do things. In this way
they are often made very useful, especially in such work as
caring for other children and doing simple ordinary tasks. At
.Waverly, Massachusetts, the men as soon as they become
grown are sent to another place, where they work at clearing
and developing poor land. This keeps them out in the open
and enables them to pay for their keep, and, not being worked
hard, they are happy and contented. In this way the major-
ity of the institutions for the feeble-minded are very efficient.
All that is needed is an extension of their equipment and the
compelling of all feeble-minded, especially the morons, to be
thus cared for by the state. This requires proper legislation
and adequate enforcement. Such persons should be kept in
institutions for life except in cases of mistake and the rare
ones of recovery, which is sometimes made possible thru oper-
ations on the brain and spinal column.

Sterilization has at times been advocated for the feeble-
minded, but is no longer advocated, for it is too inhuman and
allows the person to spread disease even if he is not able
to propagate. It gives too much power to others. Then it
is unnecessary, for segregation is no hardship; in fact in
most cases it is a blessing to the afflicted one for it shelters
him. Here he can be happy and useful. It is also cheaper
for society, for outside of a school for feeble-minded the
person seldom is able to be self-supporting. »In this/way about
two- thirds of the cases of feeble-mindedness will be checked,
checked in a humane and pleasant manner. Removal of the
liquor traffic and reduction of immorality will still further
reduce the number of feeble-minded. In short, this problem
can be very easily handled. All that is needed is a little
agitation, the proper legislation, and a few thousands of dol-
lars for initial investment; then there will be required only
small yearly appropriations for upkeep, and even these in
many cases will be unnecessary. It is strange that a prob-
lem so easy of solution has been sadly neglected in the past.

Blind, Deaf, Etc. — Similar to feeble-mindedness are
blindness and deafness. Between eighty and ninety per cent
of the cases of blindness are caused by the venereal diseases,
especially syphilis. Blindness is held in check to a great
extent by dropping mercurial solutions in the eyes of new-
born children. The remedy "606" is also stopping to a cer-
tain extent the ravages of syphilis. Then our widespread agi-

470 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OB1 SOCIOLOGY

tation against the social evil and the advertising of the effects
of immorality are cutting down slowly but steadily its extent.
So in time we can look for the curtailment in a large measure
of blindness. Deafness is slightly different. While it is inher-
ited like other traits and obeys the laws of Mendelism, it is
as yet not a dangerous problem; in fact a person who is deaf
and dumb is very rare. Deafness is sometimes caused by
close breeding and intermarriage, but as yet we have no data
concerning this source. These two problems can be greatly
alleviated by proper education. The blind can be taught by
use of the fingers and speciall adapted letters. They can
easily learn trades and in most cases earn a living without
much trouble. The deaf are still better off, for thru edu-
cation they can not only be taught to understand others
by lip-reading but can often even learn to speak. Then by
means of special sign alphabets they can easily communicate;
it is only a matter of inconvenience. When only one sense
is lacking, the others easily supply it by becoming keener.
Of course those thus afflicted are always handicapped, except
in such arts as music, in which the blind seem to be perfectly
able to hold their own. But as problems education solves
these two very easily. They do not present the dangerous
feature that feeble-mindedness does, for the blind and deaf
have the same control over themselves as normal persons and
so do not propagate any faster than normal people — in fact,
not so rapidly, because of the difficulty in finding partners.
Moreover, blindness is not inherited and deafness often is not.
Insanity. — It is entirely beyond the purpose of this vol-
ume to attempt to define insanity, or to take up its various
forms, or to enter in any degree of detail into the discussion
of the causes of insanity. Sociology recognizes insanity as
an abnormal condition of the individual ; our purpose is merely
to call attention to it as an example of defectiveness, as a
part of our treatment of the maladjustments of society. Insan-
ity is a condition which affects the nervous systems, the mind,
and therefore the conduct of individuals. As in the case of
feeble-mindedness, it is extremely difficult to draw the line
between sanity and insanity; in fact no sharp line can be
drawn. The perfect man mentally is about as rare as the
perfect man physically; yet this does not mean that those
who are imperfect are insane. Many people are peculiar in
traits and habits and are known as queer in their tempera-
ment who are by no means considered insane. Even if a per-

DEFECTIVES 471

son is eccentric and markedly different from his fellows, he
is not necessarily insane. From the legal point of view, if
a person leads a normal life and can successfully attend to
his own business, preserve a fair degree of peace with his rela-
tives and neighbors, and is able to perform the ordinary func-
tions of society, he is perfectly sane, even if he be peculiar
in a hundred different ways. If a person cannot attend to
his own affairs or if he becomes dangerous to those around
him, he may then be declared insane. Because insanity is a
matter of degree it is extremely difficult to obtain data in
regard to it, and any statistics which are offered are open to
a great deal of criticism.

It is often asserted that insanity is a disease of civiliza-
tion; and in support of this theory statistics showing the
increase of insanity are advanced, data which seems to indi-
cate that as the strain of civilization increases more persons
are unable to withstand the pressure and consequently break
under the strain. But when it is carefully examined, it is
found that a great deal if not all of the increase is due to
the fact that an increasingly larger percentage of insane find
their way into the asylums and thus more are detected and
counted. Also because of the humane treatment the insane
live longer than formerly; hence the percentage is greater.
It is observed that more manual laborers become insane than
professional people. In fact the professional men and women
who undergo the greatest strain, such as teachers, lawyers, and
physicians, have less than one-half the amount of insanity
found among laborers; and the lowest rate of all exists among
teachers, who have probably the greatest mental strain. It
is found that monotony of work is far more injurious than
strain of life. A person can endure strain if there is variety.
Because of this fact we find a great deal of insanity among
farmers and especially farmers' wives.

There are many forms or shades of insanity; some of the
leading ones are mania, in which insanity takes an active
form, such as suicidal or homicidal mania; melancholia, para-
noia, in which the afflicted person appears lucid or normal
on most subjects but has delusions in regard to certain sub-
jects, such as religion; dementia, a general decay of the
mind, often following some other form; and paresis, or gen-
eral paralysis. Students of the subject have made many sub-
divisions of these and have recognized a large number of
other forms of apparent insanity. Insanity is also connected

472 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

with feeble-mindedness and epilepsy. Theoretically the dis-
tinction between feeble-mindedness and insanity is an easy
one: those who never attain normal development are classi-
fied as feeble-minded and those who are born normal and
attain a normal mind but lose it subsequently are classed
as insane. However, in practice it is often difficult to draw
this line. Epilepsy, as we shall see later, often leads to or
ends in mental incapacity.

The causes of insanity are many and varied; the subject
is one over which there has been endless dispute. The fol-
lowing are among the causes advanced: epilepsy, mental dis-
tress, violent emotion, alcoholism, drugs, influenza, mental
strain, senility, congenital defects, heredity, injuries, rheuma-
tism, diseases, such as tuberculosis and syphilis, child-birth,
religious excitement, monotony, overwork, low diet, homesick-
ness, jealousy, fright, and business troubles. Thus there are
two main groups of causes — heredity and stress of life. Mal-
nutrition and poor functioning of the different organs of the
body are nearly always accompaniments of insanity.

Treatment of the Insane. — With primitive man insane
persons were generally deserted or killed, altho in some cases
they were protected. Later they came in for ill treatment
until the time of the Middle Ages, when they were regarded
as criminals; confined in jails and dungeons, loaded with
chains, and compelled to endure every indignity. Such meth-
ods have of course been outlawed, and the insane are now
looked upon as unfortunate rather than as delinquent, altho
it has been only a few years since this country was aroused
over the brutal methods of treatment used in many of our
insane asylums. The care of the insane is now considered
a public duty, it being thot unwise to leavev this work to
private enterprise or philanthropic bounty. Former methods
of restraint, including cell, dungeon, cage, ball and chain,
straight-jacket, whip, shower-bath, bleeding, and starving, have
given way to kindness and the mingled firmness and patience
of the attendants. It is very rare that any other methods
have to be used. Insanity is not looked upon now as the
horrible calamity, which it was formerly regarded as being;
much of it is now considered curable. Upon admission to
the ordinary asylum today the patient is taken to the hos-
pital, where the case is diagnosed and, if it is found to be
subject to treatment, is handled accordingly, either in the
hospital or elsewhere. If an insane person recovers, it is

DEFECTIVES 473

usually during his first year of insanity. So it is wise and
economical to be generous — even lavish — during the first
few months, because in this way the state is saved a large
percentage of future patients. Acute cases need individual
treatment, particularly baths, varied diets, massage and the
use of electricity, in much the same way that any ordinary
sick person does. Chronic cases need custodian treatment, but
fifty per cent of the insane are quiet and orderly; many
are capable of working. Most of our best equipped insane
asylums have farms attached, where many of the inmates
work. Of the methods of construction of asylum buildings
the one most commonly followed in the past has been the
large, rectangular dormitory, divided into wards, by which
some kind of classification of inmates is made. While this
plan attracted attention because it was economical and con-
ducive to a feeling of pride on the part of the residents of
the town in which the asylum was located, it is not the scien-
tific method of construction, because it does not give suffi-
cient opportunity for individual treatment. Similar to this
and in many ways superior to it is the pavilion plan, with
wings of two stories in height, thus giving better light and
ventilation. But the approved method today is the cottage
plan, for much the same reasons that it is the approved
method of almshouse construction. In Belgium the colony
system was made famous at Gheel and has been adopted in
several European countries. In addition to a hospital the
bulk of the patients are taken into the homes of the peasants
and treated as members of the family. This would not suit
American conditions. In Scotland about one-fifth of the
patients are boarded out in private families under definite
supervision. Here they are treated neither as servants nor
guests but as members of the family. This method has been
followed to some extent in Massachusetts with some of the
best patients with good results. But modern methods include
hospital treatment for those capable of recovery, custodial
treatment under the cottage plan for chronic cases, and where
possible colonization on farms of those capable of that work
and in need of outdoor life. The physical side is looked
after very well at the present day, but the psychological side
is often neglected. Sufficient recreation and amusement are
too often lacking, altho in most asylums efforts are now being
made along that line.

Epilepsy. — Epilepsy is a disease which is receiving more

\

474 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

attention now than formerly. There are different forms of
this disease and as a result various classes of epileptics. Some
are violent and liable to injure themselves or their compan-
ions, while others have the disease in a mild form. Some
are able to carry on the ordinary work of life and maintain
themselves; while others, because of the frequency and vio-
lence of the attacks, are unable to care for themselves. Epi-
lepsy is connected with f eeble-mindedness ; it is a cause of
f eeble-mindedness ; on the other hand some feeble-minded per-
sons become epileptic. While epilepsy does not seriously
affect the body, as a rule it affects the mind and often leads
to feeble-mindedness. It is essentially a nervous disease and
is hereditary to a marked degree, but it is also caused by
sudden fright, prolonged mental strain, over-work, and
debauchery. As noted above, it is often a cause of insanity.

While formerly either neglected or cared for in individual
cases by physicians, it is now being treated more and more
in institutions or colonies. The first colony was at Biele-
feld, Germany. Several colonies have been established in
the United States, usually with a farm attached, such as the
Craig colony at Sonyea, New York. The modern treatment
calls for the cottage plan with an outdoor life or some form
of farm colony where individual attention can be given and
the mental strain and humiliation reduced to a minimum.

On the whole, insanity and epilepsy are not the dangerous
problem for society that feeble-mindedness is. The insane
we keep in institutions, and the problem in connection with
them is largely one of wise and humane treatment. With
epilepsy the case is largely the same. We recognize the prob-
lem in much the same manner as with insanity and are taking
steps to prevent its injuring society. As to feeble-mindedness,
we have not yet awakened to the danger of the situation;
yet this problem is by far the most serious of the three.

READING REFERENCES

GODDARD, H. H., Feeble-Mindedness, Its Causes and Consequences.
GODDARD, H. H., The Kalikak Family.
GODDARD, H. H., The Criminal Imbecile.
SMITH, S. G., Social Pathology, pp. 198-255.

WARNER, AMOS G., American Charities, (Rev. 1919), pp. 305-346.
SMITH, S., Who Is Insane?
BEST, HARRY, The Deaf.
BEST, HARRY, The Blind.

Encyclopaedia Britannica, Arts, on Insanity, Epilepsy, and Deaf and Dumb.
DANIELSON, A. H. AND DAVENPORT, C. B., The Hill Folks.
DAVENPORT, C. B. AND WEEKS, D. F., A First Study of Inheritance in
Epilepsy.

PART SIX
SOCIAL PROGRESS

475

CHAPTER XXV
PROGRESS

In this chapter no effort will be made to present any theory
of progress, or even to do any theorizing in regard to what
progress is, other than to accept it as a moving forward of
society and a bettering of conditions in society; instead the
• aim will be to show that society is advancing. There is no
question about progress in the increase of knowledge, in the
production of wealth, and in our industrial development. In
economic life progress is so self-evident that there is no argu-
ment in regard to it. But when the welfare of those engaged
in industry is considered, there is room for an argument. In
regard to religious and moral welfare we constantly hear peo-
ple bemoaning a supposed decline or degeneracy. History
is full of instances of states becoming corrupt and failing to
serve the people. The family is even criticized at times as
failing in its mission and men sometimes say that it has out-
lived its usefulness. Pessimists are constantly reminding us
that things are going from bad to worse. No careful student
of the question can agree with such pessimistic philosophy.
To disprove such arguments one has only to compare condi-
tions in society today with those of a few hundred years ago.
Social Institutions Becoming More Useful. — Family.
- Under matriarchy the family relationship often broke down
and the family did not always serve as it should; at best
it was a more or less make-shift arrangement. Under patri-
archy it was solidified altho by the subjection of the wife and
children to the male. Women became either degraded in posi-
tion or a servant to her husband, often a mere chattel in his
household. As time has passed, the position of woman has
become more elevated and her lot made easier, until now in
most countries she bids fair to stand in the near future upon
the same footing as man and to enjoy equal privileges and
opportunities. The family is also functioning better in regard
to the children than formerly. At one time children could
be, and often were, sold into slavery by their parents. Under

477

478 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

patriarchy the father had the right of life and death over
them, just as he did over his wife, a condition which no
longer exists in civilized countries. Formerly children were
much neglected — and in some cases are even today, but
* not in the degree that they formerly were. On the whole,
the family is functioning much better than it ever did in
the past. Much more is expected of the family relation-
ship; we now demand happiness and comfort, while formerly
the family was looked upon largely only as a means of con-
tinuing the race.

Government. — In regard to government there is constant
evolution; a government which does not serve the people in
the best manner is sooner or later supplanted by one which
does. When a government becomes tyranical or oppressive,
it is overthrown as soon as the forces which are held back,
become strong enuf to do so. There has been a constant
growth in the part taken in government by the people gov-
erned. At first government was largely a form of machinery
used to carry out the selfish interests of a few, but now gov-
ernment to be successful must serve the people in the best
manner possible. Of recent years there has been a growing
tendency towards republics or constitutional forms of gov-
ernment. Even within these forms there is a steady growth
in the usefulness of government. In our own country we
are constantly striving to eliminate privilege and graft and
to serve the people in a better manner. While all govern-
ments are far from perfect — in fact they all have many flaws
— there is no comparison between the service to people ren-
dered by a modern government, such as that of the United
States, Great Britain, France, or even Germany, and that
of Babylon, Ancient Egypt, Assyria, Persia, or even Rome.
The ancient government was cruel, narrow, and tyrannical:
the modern government protects and serves its citizens.

Religion. — We often hear of the decline in religion — that
religion is dying out. While formalism in religion is decreas-
ing and altho the arbitrary control of religion is diminishing,
religion itself is becoming purer and more useful to man. With
primitive religion control was obtained thru superstition and
fear. Under early Christianity, even down to Puritan times,
control was exercised to a great extent thru fear. Religion
in the past was narrow; one form of religion would not tol-
erate another. Indeed, under Christianity horrible persecu-
tions were carried out in the name of religion, simply because

PROGRESS 479

of the narrowness and bigotry of religious leaders. Religion,
like government, is becoming less arbitrary and is seeking
to serve mankind more and more. In our study of religion
we noticed a steady evolution, that Christianity is the high-
est form of religion known to us today. In the same way
there is a steady development in Christianity itself, for it is
becoming purer and is carrying out more than ever the teach-
ings of Christ. It is trying to lead rather than to drive,
to serve rather than to compel obedience to set forms and
ideas. It is not trying so much to force the same religious
ideas or the same theological doctrines upon all, but to permit
each person to work out his own creed and to worship as
he sees fit.

Moral Standards and Ideals. — As society advances, ethical
standards and ideals become loftier and purer. If we com-
pare our codes of ethics with those of Babylon or Ancient
Egypt, or of the Early Hebrews and Greeks, we shall be sur-
prised by the contrast. We shall find that old ideas of
revenge and doctrines of "an eye for an eye and a tooth for
a tooth" are supplanted by Christian principles of reconcil-
iation and forgiveness. We no longer sanction slavery and
infanticide. We have ceased to torture prisoners and wit-
nesses or invent ingenious methods of inflicting the most pain
imaginable upon criminals. We even condemn wife-beating
and child labor and try to reform criminals when it is possi-
ble — ideals which in times past would have been scoffed
at as insane. We even demand an equality of opportunity
for all. While occasionally we may lapse temporarily in our
moral standards, it is nearly always because we have outgrown
the old standard before a new one has been formed.

Education. — Altho our educational systems come in for
much criticism, education is constantly becoming more useful.
The very fact that we find flaws in our educational methods
is a hopeful sign. Probably the greatest advance in educa-
tion is the putting of it within the reach of all, instead of
restricting it to only a few, as in the past. Education is
striving more and more to serve the individual and to benefit
society.

In brief, the institutions of society are all becoming more
useful to society. Society is often breaking down the control
of institutions over individuals and forcing them to be of
greater service to mankind.

480 INTRODUCTI6N TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

Society Functioning More Perfectly. — The interests
in society are becoming more healthful and less selfish and
individual. The spirit of altruism is steadily developing,
and we are more and more willing to admit the interests of
others than ourselves; even nations are coming to adopt such
an attitude, as evinced by the colonial policy of Great Britain
and by the attitude of the United States towards her neigh-
bors, especially Mexico. Economic interests are now being
forced to recognize the health interests of the workers. Society
is continually trying to curb and hold in check selfish inter-
ests that are injurious to the public, and to eliminate organi-
zations and groups centered about such interests, as the liquor
business, prostitution, and political rings. While individual
interests will always be more or less selfish, society is contin-
ually holding this tendency in check and striving to make
them more healthful and useful to society, as well as to the
individuals having them.

Systems or means of control are becoming more efficient.
Public opinion is now saner and more useful, since we are
constantly improving our means of communication, thus allow-
ing it to become more enlightened. It is being educated by
use and thus is becoming more efficient as a means of control
as well as more effective in its working. Laws are being made
more democratic and practical. During the past few years
we have had a wonderful development in social legislation.
Practically all European nations have accident insurance for
workers in industry, and over half of them have systems of
sickness insurance; many have systems of old age pensions.
In the United States we are backward in this line but have
made some progress during the last few years and just now
are showing signs of soon being abreast of other countries.
Already we have systems of workmen's compensation in nearly
all of our states, mothers' pension legislation in about two-
thirds, and minimum wage laws in several, and much senti-
ment is being created in favor of health insurance and a sys-
tem of permanent employment bureaus after the order of
the system which was so successful during the war. We are
adopting laws protecting the health and morals of workers
in all branches of industry. Laws have been passed regu-
lating the hours of work for women and minors in many
states, legislation against night work, and generally limiting
the hours for women to eight. In industries where long hours
are dangerous to the public, like railroading, we are adopting

PROGRESS 481

shorter hours, sometimes voluntarily and sometimes by means
of legislation. Laws have been passed protecting the health
of workers in many of the dangerous and unhealthful indus-
tries, such as that forbidding the use of poisonous phosphorous
in the manufacture of matches, because of the effect upon
the workers' jaws and teeth. Laws are rapidly compelling
manufacturers to protect their workers from dangerous ma-
chinery by the use of safety devices, guards, etc.

In the past laws were made by the strong for their own
interests; now they are being. made more and more to control
and curb the strong and to protect the weak. We are passing
laws against rebating, pooling, and other illegal methods of
competition in business. In our legal machinery we are giving
the weak a better chance for justice, as illustrated by the
instituting of the public defender.

As already suggested, control by religion, while it is break-
ing down in direct effectiveness, is becoming more helpful
both to the individual and to society. Instead of standing
in the way of reform, religion is now doing its utmost to
bring reforms to pass. It is teaching its followers to be
more useful to society by teaching them to help society,
rather than to isolate themselves from the world. Coftitrol
by education, ideals, and enlightenment is becoming more
and more important. Instead of choosing our president from
the ranks of warriors and lawyers, we have recently chosen
one from the teaching profession. Increasingly are scientists,
professional men, and experts called into consultation or placed
in positions of responsibility. Not only is social control more
efficent and useful, but it is affording a larger share of equality
than in the past. Instead of exercising power for the inter-
ests of some one class, control aims towards greater liberty
and democracy. Control by artificial means, such as super-
stition, ceremony, habit, and custom, is becoming less and less
important; and control by means of public opinion, educa-
tion, and enlightenment is greatly increasing.

Our whole social organization is working together in a more
harmonious manner; that is, it allows greater moral develop-
ment and wider equalization of opportunities. There may,
however, be more criticism at times of our social order, for
the simple reason that where the worst conditions in society
exist, the lower classes are held down in such a condition of
wretchedness and helplessness that they are unable to protest,
or have no hope of improving their condition, or have been

(O)

482 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

made to believe that they were destined for an inferior posi-
tion. We find a constant tendency towards the socializing
of our institutions. In our political life we find socialistic
tendencies constantly coming to the front, in some countries
thru a definite socialistic party, and in other countries, espe-
cially the United States and Great Britain, in the adopting
by the great political parties of socialistic policies, such as
social insurance in Great Britain and governmental control
in this country. While we may criticize the condition of
social classes, especially in some countries, the social order
of the present is far preferable to the social order of past.
Our class distinctions may be obnoxious and disagreeable at
times, but they do not stand in the way of equality, liberty,
and progress, as did the social orders of such countries as
Egypt, Persia, Greece, Rome, France under the Bourbons,
Russia under the Romonoffs, and any of the countries during
mediaeval days. Faults in the present social order are gen-
erally the results of petty frictions; but we are constantly
removing the causes of these and smoothing over the rough
spots. New problems are of course constantly developing
with the change in methods and the ushering in of new orders,
like those caused by the invention of machines or by scien-
tific discoveries, but society grapples with the difficulties and
overcomes them. While society is constantly becoming more
complex and intricate in its organization, it is functioning
more successfully than the social organization of the past,
in that it is serving humanity better and allowing greater
progress of mankind.

Social Maladjustment Becoming Less Harmful. — In
regard to the problems of society one has merely to compare
our present-day problems with those of yesterday. Altho we
are constantly being warned of the danger of some problem
in society and altho some people are continually becoming
alarmed over the rise of some new condition and because of
it are predicting dire calamity to society, our great problems
of yesterday are steadily becoming less dangerous, and we
are meeting and grappling with the new dangers that arise.
Poverty and crime have always been our greatest social
problems; at various times they have been considered hope-
less, and often society has been alarmed by their overwhelm-
ing proportions. While both of these great problems are with
us — and always will be in some form — we no longer look
upon them as hopeless. We are now digging up the roots of

PROGRESS 483

the problems of poverty and crime and striving to eliminate
their causes as well as applying the best known remedies to
their needs. In regard to crime we are endeavoring to protect
society and to reform all of our criminals who are capable
of reform, and at the same time are attempting to deal with
the causes of crime and to prevent their producing future
criminals. Tho our efforts in this, line at present are crude
and clumsy and tho we often fall down in the carrying out
of our plans, we are working in the right direction and are
achieving results.

The liquor question has been one that in former times we
looked upon not as a serious problem but as a natural con-
dition. Later we became alarmed and started to deal with
it, but without much success except in the way of educating
the people in regard to its evils and creating public senti-
ment against it. Then when sentiment was sufficiently devel-
oped we systematically went about the solution of this problem
in the United States and quickly adopted prohibition; thus
we have reduced this problem to one of law enforcement. In
Europe since the beginning of the great war gigantic strides
have been taken in the same direction, and the handling of
the problem even there, where it was more firmly entrenched
than in the United States, is meeting with the same success.

In regard to immorality, while the condition has been bad
enuf during the past few decades, it has by no means
approached the proportions of the conditions that existed in
Rome and in Europe during the Middle Ages. We are also
making this problem slip into the background in importance,
because here too we are not trying to curb or suppress the
top of the growth but are trying to deal with the root of
the evil by eliminating the causes of the conditions — we are
trying to reduce and eliminate as far as possible the demand
for the evil, instead of merely dealing with the supply side
of the problem. As in our treatment of crime, instead of
trying to suppress vice we are trying to prevent it. Our
efforts in this direction have thus far met with only moderate
success in this country, but we are advancing; in time we
shall at least eliminate the worst features of the problem.

In regard to the defective classes we are again trying to
deal with the problem from the correct angle — that of elimi-
nation, in as humane and altruistic a manner as possible. We
are endeavoring to eliminate these classes largely by preventing
their propagation and the consequent bringing in of future

484 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

generations to take their, place. Thus instead of becoming
overwhelmed by the dangerous classes, we shall ejiminate them.
We have not progressed very far in this policy in the case
of the feeble-minded, but we are awaking to the need of action
and soon shall be handling the question in a scientific manner.

While our outlook is very optimistic and hopeful, this
improvement will not come about without continuous struggle
and effort; hence the constant need of the trained sociologist
as well as of the reformed. It will require the conscious
endeavor of society and a steady determination to achieve
progress. Instead of a laissez jaire policy constant struggle
and effort are necessary.

At the present time the tremendous world conflict, thru
which we have just passed, the greatest and most disastrous
struggle that history has known, seems to deny, or at least
shake, any such optimistic philosophy. At the beginning of
the war it seemed as if the knell of European civilization might
have been sounded, and even now after the war has been over
for some time this possibility has not been entirely banished.
But we are living entirely too near the terrible struggle to
see it in its true perspective. The war, terrible as it has
been, may make possible a condition of achievement which
would have been impossible without it. The French Revo-
lution seemed terrible in its bloodshed, but the later pros-
perous and happy France would not have been possible with-
out it. The Chicago fire and the San Francisco earthquake
were terrible disasters, but the present Chicago and San Fran-
cisco would have been impossible without them; similarly the
burning of Rome and London were blessings in disguise. Out
of the ruins caused by the recent struggle there may emerge
a free and prosperous Europe, and a plane of civilization may
be reached which would have been impossible without this
colossal holocaust. Already the indications are that a condi-
tion of greater democracy and political freedom will be
achieved, as well as greater social advances. Perhaps the
world needed such a terrible test of fire to bring out the finer
qualities of character and to produce a higher type of civiliza-
tion. Such has been the history in the past; the present
indications are that the recent war, instead of standing in
the way of progress, will permit still greater progress in the
future. Only time can tell.

PROGRESS . 485

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TODD, A. J., Theories of Social Progress.

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SELLARS, R. W., The Next Step in Democracy.

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GILLETTE, J. M., Sociology, pp. 110-147.

CARVER, T. N., Essays in Social Justice.

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490 A PARTIAL LIST OF BOOKS CONSULTED

GAMBLE, ELIZA B., The Evolution of Woman, New York, 1897.

GEDDES, P. AND THOMSON, J. A., The Evolution of Sex, New York, 1910.

GEORGE, HENRY, Progress and Poverty.

GETTELL, R. G., Problems in Political Evolution, Boston, 1914.

GIBBONS, I. J., Unemployment Insurance, London, 1911.

GIDDINGS, F. H., Principles of Sociology, New York, 1896.

Inductive Sociology, New York, 1901.

Elements of Sociology, New York, 1905.

Readings in Descriptive and Historical Sociology, New York, 1906.

GILLETTE, J. M., Constructive Rural Sociology, New York, 1913.

Sociology, Chicago, 1916.

GODDARD, H. H., The Kallikak Family, New York, 1912.

Feeble-mindedness, New York, 1914.

The Criminal Imbecile, New York, 1915.

GORING, CHARLES, The English -Convict, London, 1913.

GRAVES, F. P., Students' History of Education, New York.

GROOS, KARL, Play of Man, New York, 1913.

GROSS, HANS, Criminal Psychology, Transl. by Kallon, Boston, 1911.

GUIZOT, F. P. G., General History of Civilization in Europe, New York,

1869.
GRANT, MADISON, The Passing of the Great Race, revised edition, New

York, 1918.
GUMPLOWICZ, LUDWIG, Der Rassenkampp, Innsbruck, 1883.

Outlines of Sociology, Transl. by Moore, Philadelphia, 1899.

HADDON, A. C., Evolution in Art, London, 1895.

HAGGARD, H. RIDER, Rural Denmark and Its Lessons, London, 1913.

HALL, BOLTON, Three Acres and Liberty, New York, 1907.

HALL, G. STANLEY, Adolescence.

HALL, PRESTON, Immigration, New York, 1913.

HART, A. B., The Southern South, New York, 1910.

HART, H. H., Juvenile Court Laws in the United States, New York, 1910.

HAYES, CARLETON J. H., A Political and Social History of Modern

Europe, New York, 1916.

HAYES, E. C., Introduction to the Study of Sociology, New York, 1915.
HENDERSON, C. R., Dependents, Defectives and Delinquents, New York,

1893.

Modern Methods of Charity, New York, 1904.

Outdoor Labor for Convicts, Chicago, 1907.

Industrial Insurance, Chicago, 1911.

HINDS, W. A., American Communities, Chicago, 1908.

HOBBES, THOMAS, Leviathan, London and New York, 1887.

HOBHOUSE, L. T., Morals in Evolution, New York, 1900.

HOBSON, J. A., Problems of Poverty, London, 1906.

HOLLANDER, J. H., Abolition of Poverty, Boston, 1914.

HOWARD, G. E., A History of Matrimonial Institutions, 3 vols., Chicago,

1904.

HOWE, F. C., The Modern City and Its Problems, New York, 1915.
HowiTT, A. W., Native Tribes of Southeast Australia, London, 1904.
HUNTER, ROBERT, Poverty, New York, 1904.
HUXLEY, THOMAS H., Evolution and Ethics, London, 1893.
HUTCHINSON, R. H., The Socialism of New Zealand, New York, 1916.

A PARTIAL LIST OF BOOKS CONSULTED 491

INDUSTRIAL COMMISSION OF OHIO, Cost of Living of Working Women in

Ohio, Columbus, 1915.

JACOBS, PHILIP P., German Sociology, Lancaster, Pa.
JASTROW, MORRIS, The Study of Religion, Philadelphia, 1901.
JENKS, J. W. AND LAUCK, W. J., The Immigration Problem, New York,

1912.

KEANE, A. H., Ethnology, Cambridge, England, 1909.
KELLER, A. G., Societal Evolution, New York, 1915.
KELLEY, FLORENCE, Some Ethical Gains Thru Legislation, New York,

1905.

KELLOGG, P. AND OTHERS, The Pittsburgh Survey.
KELLOR, FRANCES, Experimental Sociology; Delinquents, New York,

1901.

KIDD, BENJAMIN, Social Evolution, revised edition, New York, 1915.
KIDD, DUDLEY, The Essential Kaffir, London, 1904.

— Savage Childhood, London, 1906.

KING, W. S., Elements of Statistical Method, New York, 1912.
KIRKPATRICK, E. A., Fundamentals of Sociology, Boston, 1916.
KIRKUP, THOMAS, History of Socialism, London, 1900.
KNEELAND, G. J., Commercialized Prostitution in New York, New York,

1913.

KOREN, JOHN, Economic Aspects of the Liquor Problem, Boston, 1902.
LANG, ANDREW, Myth, Ritual and Religion, 2 vols., London, 1887.
LEACOCK, S., Elements of Political Science, Boston, 1906.
LEAKE, A. H., Means and Methods of Agricultural Education, Boston,

1915.

LEBoN, GUSTAVE, The Crowd, New York, 1897.
LECKY, M. E. H., A History of European Morals, New York, 1870.
LEE, JOSEPH, Constructive and Preventive Philanthropy, New York, 1902.
LEWIS, B. G., The Offender, New York, 1917.
LINDSAY, B. B., Juvenile Court Laws of the State of Colorado, 1905.

— Problem of Children; How the State of Colorado Cares for Them,
1904.

LIPMAN, J. G., Bacteria in Relation to Country Life, New York, 1911.
LOMBROSO, CAESAR AND FERRERO, G., The Female Offender, New York,

1895.
LONDON, JACK, The People of the Abyss, New York, 1903.

— Before Adam, New York, 1907.

LOTT, E., Harem Life in Egypt and Constantinople, 2 vols., London,

1865.
LOWELL, A. LAWRENCE, Public Opinion and Popular Government, New

York.
LUBBOCK, JOHN, Origin of Civilization and Primitive Condition of Man,

London, 1874.
McCoNNELL, R. M., Criminal Responsibility and Social Constraint, New

York, 1912.

MACDONALD, ARTHUR, Criminology, New York, 1893.
MAYO-SMITH, R., Statistics and Sociology, New York, 1896.
McDouGALL, WILLIAM, An Introduction to Social Psychology, Boston,

1909.
MACKENZIE, J. S., Introduction to Social Philosophy, Glascow, 1890,

New York, 1895.

492 A PARTIAL LIST OF BOOKS CONSULTED

MAINE, H. J. S., Ancient Law,

MALTHUS, T. R., An Essay on the Principles of Population, 3 vols.,

London, 1909; abd. edition, New York, 1916.

MANGOLD, G. B., The Problem of Child Welfare, New York, 1914.
MARSHALL, ALFRED, Principles of Economics, London.
MARX, KARL, Capital.

MASON, O. T., Woman's Share in Primitive Culture, New York, 1907.
MASSACHUSETTS COMMISSION ON OLD AGE PENSIONS, Report, Boston,

1910.

MATHEWS, SHALER, Social Teachings of Jesus, New York, 1909.
MEAKIN, ANNETTE, Woman in Transition, London, 1905.
MEAKIN, BUDGETT, Model Factories and Villages, London, 1905.
MECKLIN, J. M., Democracy and Race Friction, New York, 1914.
MENZIES, ALLAN, History of Religion, 4th edition, New York, 1911.
MICHIGAN STATE COMMISSION OF INQUIRY ON MINIMUM WAGE, Report,

Lansing, 1915.
MILL, JOHN STUART, Subjection of Woman, London.

— Principles of Political Economy, London, 1888.
MILLER, KELLY, Race Adjustment — An Essay on the Negro in America,

New York, 1908.

MITCHELL, JOHN, Organized Labor, New York, 1903.
MONROE, PAUL, A Brief Course in the History of Education, revised

edition, New York.

Source Book in the History of Education, New York.

MORE, L. B., Wage Earners' Budgets, New York, 1907.
MORE, THOMAS, Utopia, London, 1904.

MORRISON, W. D., Our Juvenile Offenders, New York, 1897.
MORROW, P. A., Social Diseases and Marriage, New York, 1904.
NEARING, SCOTT, Wages in the United States, New York, 1911.

— Social Adjustment, New York, 1911.
Social Religion, New York, 1913.

— Poverty and Riches, Philadelphia, 1916.
NEWHOUSE, A., The Declining Birth-Rale, New York, 1911.
NEW YORK COMMISSION ON IMMIGRATION, Report, Albany, 1909.
OGDEN, R. H., Rural Hygiene, New York.

OSBORN, HENRY FAIRFIELD, Men of the Old Stone Age, 3d edition, New

York, 1918.

PAGE, L. W., Paths, Roads and Bridges, New York, 1913.
PAGE, T. N., The Negro: The Southerner's Problem, New York, 1904.
PARMELEE, MAURICE, Principles of Anthropology and Sociology in Their

Relation to Criminal Procedure, New York, 1908.

Science of Human Behavior, New York, 1913.

Poverty, New York, 1916.

PARSONS, ELSIE CLEWS, The Family, New York, 1906.
PATTEN, SIMON N., Social Basis of Religion, New York, 1911.

Newer Basis of Civilization, New York, 1907.

PEABODY, F. G., An Approach to the Social Question, New York, 1909.

Jesus Christ and the Social Question, 1900.

PESCHEL, O., Races of Man, New York, 1879.

PHILLIPS, American Negro Slavery.

PLATO, The Republic.

PLEHN, C. G., Introduction to Public Finance, 3d edition, New York, 1909.

A PARTIAL LIST OF BOOKS CONSULTED 493

PLUNKETT, HORACE, The Rural Life Problem of the United States, New

York, 1910.
POSADA, ADOLPHE, Theores Modernes, sur les Origmes de la Famille, de

'la Societe et de L'etat, Paris, 1896.
PUFFER, J. A., The Boy and His Gang, Boston, 1912.
RACE BETTERMENT FOUNDATION, Proceedings of First and Second

National Conferences on Race Betterment, Battle Creek, Michigan,

1913 and 1915.

RATZEL, F., The History of Mankind, 3 vols., London, 1896-98.
RAUSCHENBUSCH, WALTER, Christianity and the Social Crisis, New York,

1907.

REID, G. ARCHDALL, Principles of Heredity, London, 1905.
Rns, JACOB A., Children of the Poor, New York, 1892.

— How the Other Half Lives, New York, 1892.

— The Making of an American, New York, 1901.
-The Battle With the Slum. New York, 1902.

ROGERS, H., (Editor) Congress of Arts and Sciences, at St. Louis, Vol.
VII, Economics, Politics, Jurisprudence, and Social Sciences, Bos-
ton, 1906.

Ross, E. A., Social Control, New York, 1901.

Foundations of Sociology, New York, 1905.

— 5m and Society, Boston, 1907.

— Social Psychology, New York, 1908.

ROUSSEAU, JEAN J., The Social Contract, Transl. by Harrington, New

York.

ROWE, H. K., Society, Its Origin and Development, New York, 1916.
ROWNTREE AND SHERWELL, The Temperance Problem and Social Reform,

New York, 1900.
RUBINOW, I. M., Social Insurance, New York, 1913.

— Standards of Health Insurance, New York, 1916.

RYAN, JOHN A., A Living Wage, New York, 1906. ,

SALEEBY, C. W., Parenthood and Race Culture, New York, 1907.
SALEILLES, R., The Individualization of Punishment, Transl. by Jastrow,

Boston, 1913.

SANGER, W. W., History of Prostitution, New York.
SAUSSAYE, DE LA, Manual of the Science of Religion, New York.
SCOTT, W. B., The Theory of Evolution, New York, 1917.
SELIGMAN, H. R. AND B. J., The Veddas, Cambridge, England, 1911.
SEAGER, H. R., Social Insurance, New York, 1910.
SEMPLE, ELLEN C., Influence of Geographic Environment, New York,

1911.

-American History and Its Geographical Condition, Boston.

SMALL, ALBION W., General Sociology, Chicago, 1905.

— Adam Smith and Modern Sociology, Chicago, 1907.

The Meaning of Social Science, Chicago, 1910.

Between Eras, Chicago, 1913.

SMALL, ALBION W. AND VINCENT, GEO., Introduction to the Study of

Sociology, New York, 1897.
SMITH, ADAM, Wealth of Nations, London, 1776.

— The Theory of Moral Sentiments, London.

SMITH, R. MAYO, Emigration and Immigration, New York, 1891.
SMITH, S. G., Social Pathology, New York, 1911.

494 A PARTIAL LIST OF BOOKS CONSULTED

SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTE, Annual Reports, Washington.

SNIDER, D. I., Social Institutions, St. Louis, 1901.

SOCIETY OF SOCIAL AND MORAL PROPHYLEXIS, Health and Hygiene of Sex.

SPAHR, H., The Present Distribution of Wealth in the United Sttotes,
2d edition, New York, 1896.

SPARGO, JOHN, The Bitter Cry of the Children, New York, 1906.

Socialism, new edition, New York, 1909.

SPENCER, BALDWIN AND GILLIN, F. I., Northern Tribes of Central Aus-
tralia, London, 1908.

Native Tribes of Central Australia, London, 1899.

SPENCER, HERBERT, Principles of Sociology, 3 vols., New York, 1891-1897.

Social Stalks, New York, 1887.

Principles of Ethics, New York, 1893.

— Study of Society, New York, 1889.

STARBUCK, ED., Psychology of Religion, New York, 1899.

STEINER, EDWARD A., On the Trail of the Immigrant, New York, 1906.

The Immigrant Tide, Its Ebb and Flow, New York, 1909.

STERN, R. B., Neighborhood Entertainments, New York, 1910.
STREIGHTOFF, F. H., The Standard of Living of Industrial People of

America, Boston, 1911.

STETSON, CHARLOTTE P., Women and Economics, Boston, 1898.
STONE, A. H., Studies in the American Race Problem, New York, 1908.
STRONG, JOSIAH, Social Progress, New York.
SUMNER, W. G., Folkways, Boston, 1907.
SUTHERLAND, A., The Origin and Growth of the Moral Instincts, London,

1898.
TARDE, GABRIEL, Social Laws, Transl. by Warren, New York, 1899.

— Laws of Imitation, Transl. by Parsons, New York, 1903.
TAUSSIG, F. W., Principles of Economics, 2 vols., 2d edition, New York,

1915.
TAYLOR, H. C., An Introduction to the Study of Agricultural Economics,

New York, 1905.

TENNEY, E. P., Contrasts in Social Progress, New York, 1907.
THOMAS, W. I., Sex and Society, Chicago, 1907.

Source Book for Social Origins, Chicago, 1909.

TIELE, C. P., Elements of the Science of Religion, 2 vols., New York,

1897.

TILLINGHAST, J. A., The Negro in Africa and America, New York, 1902.
TRAVIS, THOMAS, The Young Malefactor, New York, 1908.
TWING, C. F., The Family, an Historical and Social Study, revised

edition, Boston, 1913.
TYLOR, ED. B., Primitive Culture, 2 vols., New York, 1874.

— Anthropology, New York, 1878.

U. S. CENSUS BUREAU, Bulletins and Reports.

U. S. BUREAU OF ETHNOLOGY, Annual Reports.

U. S. LABOR COMMISSION, Annual Reports.

U. S. MUSEUM, Annual Reports.

VAN RISE, The Conservation of Natural Resources in the United States,

New York, 1910.
VEBLEN, T., The Theory of the Leisure Classes, New York, 1911.

— The Instinct of Workmanship, New York, 1914.

A PARTIAL LIST OF BOOKS CONSULTED 495

VEILLER, L., Housing Reform, New York, 1910.

VICE COMMISSION OF CHICAGO, The Social Evil of Chicago, Chicago

1911.

VOGT, P. L., Introduction to Rural Sociology, New York, 1917.
WALKER, FRANCIS A., Land and Its Rent, Boston, 1883.

— Political Economy, New York, 1888.

WALLAS, GRAHAM, The Great Society, New York, 1914.

WALLING, W. E. AND OTHERS, Socialism of Today, New York, 1916.

WARD, LESTER F., Dynamic Sociology, 2 vols., New York, 1883.

— Psychic Factors of Civilization, Boston, 1893.

— Pure Sociology, New York, 1903.

— Outlines of Sociology, New York, 1904.

— Applied Sociology, Boston, 1906.

WARNER, AMOS G., American Charities, revised edition, New York, 1919.
WARNER, H. S., Social Welfare and the Liquor Problem, revised edition,

Chicago, 1913.
WASHINGTON, BOOKER T., The Future of the American Negro, Boston,

1899.

— Working With the Hands, New York, 1.904.

— Story of the Negro, 2 vols., New York, 1909.
WEBB, S. AND B., Industrial Democracy, London, 1902.
WEEKS, A. D., The Education of Tomorrow. New York, 1913.

— The Mind of the Citizen, American Journal of Sociology.
WEININGER, OTTO, Sex and Character, London, 1903.

WELD, L. H. D., The Marketing of Farm Products, New York, 1916.
WESTERMARCK, EDWARD, History of Human Marriage, London, 1901.

— Origin and Development of Moral Ideas, 2 vols., London, 1906-1908.
WILCOX, W. F., The Divorce Problem; a Study in Statistics, New York,

1891.
WILLIAMS, C. M., A Review of the Systems of Ethics Founded on the

Theory of Evolution, London, 1893.
WILLSON, R. N., The Am.eric.an Boy and the Social Evil, Philadelphia,

1905.
WILSON, WARREN H., The Church of the Open Country, New York, 1911.

— The Evolution of the Country Community, Boston, 1912.
WILSON, WOODROW, The State, Boston, 1900.

WINES, F. H., Punishment and Reformation, revised edition, New York,

1919.
WINES, F. H. AND KOREN, JOHN, The Liquor Problem in Its Legislative

Aspects, Boston, 1897.

WLLLOUGHBY, W. W., The Nature of the S^tate, New York, 1896.
WOLFF, H. W., Co-operative Banking, London, 1907.
WOODS, ROBERT A., Americans in Process, Boston, 1902.

— The City Wilderness, Boston.

WRIGHT, C. D., Industrial Evolution of the United States, New York,

1895.

Some Ethical Phases of the Labor Question, Boston, 1902.

Practical Sociology, New York, 1906.

ZUEBLIN, CHARLES, American Municipal Progress, revised edition,

York, 1916.

496 A PARTIAL LIST OF BOOKS CONSULTED

JOURNALS, ETC.

American Journal of Sociology, Chicago.

Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, Phil-
adelphia.

Journal of the American Institute of Criminal Law and Criminology,
Chicago.

National Municipal Review, Philadelphia.

Quarterly Journal of Economics, Cambridge, Mass.

Proceedings of the American Prison Association.

Proceedings of the International Prison Association.

Proceedings of the National Conference of Charities and Corrections.

Publications of the American Sociological Society, Chicago.

The Survey (formerly Charities and Commons), New York.

INDEX

Accidents, as causes of poverty, 376.

Achievements, social, 207.

Adams, T. S., 224.

Addams, Jane, 460.

Adler, Felix, 205.

Age, as cause of crime, 425.

Agricultural stage, 297.

Aim and purpose of society, 352.

Almshouse, 400.

American educational development,

281.

American race problem, 127.
American treatment of poverty, 400.
Ancestor worship, 241.
Armenian immigration, 80.
Arp, J. B., 126.
Aschaffenburg, G., 447.
Assyrian immigration, 80.
Athenian education, 265.
Auburn type of prison, 435.
Australian system of marriage, 163.

Babylon, religions of early, 247.

Bachofen, J. J., 160.

Bad habits as cause of poverty, 379.

Bad industrial organization, as cause
of poverty, 365.

Bad or unhealthful climatic condi-
tions, as causes of poverty, 364.

Bailey, L. H., 126.

Baker, Ray Stanley, 154.

Balch, Emily G., 107.

Baldwin, James Mark, 305, 321,
342, 355.

Barbarism, status of, 208.

Barnard, Henry, 284.

Basedow, J. B., 279.

Best, Henry, 474.

Blackmar, Professor Frank W., 22,
238, 260, 307, 321, 355.

Blagden, C. O., 224.

Blind, 469.

Boas, F., 212, 213, 224.

Bogart, E. L., 224.

Bonger, W. A., 430.

Booth, Charles, 360, 394.

Bosanquette, Helen, 176.

Brahmanism, 253 ; position of wom-
an under, 172.

Bucher, K., 224; budget method,
199.

Buddhism, 252, 254; position of

woman under, 172.
Budgets, family, 199, 201; culture

needs of, 201; physical needs of,

200.

Bureau of Standards, report of, 205.
Business, sexual equality in, 175.
Butterfield, K. L., 126.

Calhoun, A. W., 177.

Camp Fire, 119.

Capture, marriage by, 168.

Carleton, Frank T., 224.

Carney, Mabel, 126.

Carter, James G., 284.

Carver, Professor T. N., 126, 485.

Caste, as solution of negro prob-
lem, 152; origin of, 227.

Causes of feeble-mindedness, 466.

Causes of poverty, 364; also results
of poverty, 383 ; objective, 364 ;
subjective, 376.

Causes of prostitution, 449.

Centering of activities in city, 114.

Change in agricultural methods, 111.

Changes in industry, as causes of
poverty, 373.

Changes in tariff schedules as causes
of poverty, 373.

Changes in value of money as caus-
es of poverty, 373.

Chapin, F. Stuart, 224.

Character certificates for immi-
grants, proposed, 104.

Characteristics of primitive religion,
244.

Charity, as treatment of poverty,
395 ; indiscriminate as cause of
poverty, organization, 408; trend
of modern, 411.

Chicago Vice Commission, 460.

Child labor, 385.

Child neglect, 391.

Children, care of dependent, 402.

Chinese education, 262.

Chinese immigration, 83.

Christianity, 257; influence of upon
the family, 170; position of wom-
an under, 173.

Ciceronianism, 275.

City more alluring, 112.

497

498

INDEX

City planning, 125.

City problems, 120.

Civilization, status of, 209.

Class consciousness, 113.

Classes, social, 349.

Classical education, 274.

Cleveland, F. A., 485.

Cocks, Orrin G., 460.

Code of Hammurabi, 247.

Colonial education, 281.

Colonization of negro, 150.

Commercial growth of the country,
111.

Commons, Professor John R., 89,
107.

Commercial stage, 208.

Communication, 345.

Compound solution of negro prob-
lem, 153.

Confucianism, position of woman
under, 252.

Consanguine family, 167.

Consent, marriage by, 170.

Consular inspection of immigration,
proposed, 103.

Contract system, 436.

Control, see social control.

Cooley, Professor Charles H., 346,
355.

Coolidge, Dr. Mary R., 107, 206.

Corpus juris civilis, 273.

Cost of living, increased, 187.

Coulter, Professor J. L., 126.

Country church, 117.

Country Life Commission, report
of, 126.

Country problems, 115.

Country school, 116.

County jail, 443.

Court of domestic relations, 192.

Crawford, Dudley, 224.

Crime, 415 ; as cause of poverty,
381; causes of, 419; effect of im-
migration upon, 93; extent of,
417; feeble-mindedness and, 463;
Italian school of criminal anthro-
pology, 426; modern methods in
the treatment of, 438; negro,
145; objective causes of, 420;
scientific attitude towards, 444;
subjective causes of, 424; treat-
ment of the criminal, 431 ; what

is crime?, 415; criminal psychol-
ogy, 426; criminals, different
kinds, 416,

Crozier, John B., 260, 355.

Cubberly, E. P., 126.

Culture needs, 201.

Curtis, Henry S., 126.

Danielson, A. H., 474.

Davenport, C. B., 474.

Deaf, 469.

Dealey, Professor J. Q., 22.

Decay of religious control, as a
cause of divorce increase, 188.

Decree of Gratian, 273.

Defectives, 461.

Defective courts and punitive ma-
chinery as causes of poverty, 374;
as causes of crime, 422.

Defective government as cause of
poverty, 365 ; as cause of crime,
422.

Defective sanitation as cause of
poverty, 375.

Defects in educational system as
causes of poverty, 374.

De Forest, R. W., 394.

Degeneracy, 393; as cause of crime,
424; degenerate or bad surround-
ings as cause of poverty, 375.

DeGreef, G., 343.

Democratic education, 277.

Density of population as cause of

crime, 422.

i Densmore, Emmet, 177, 206.
j Desertion as cause of poverty, 380.
1 Devine, Edward T., 394.

Dewey, John, 260.

Disease, as cause of poverty, 377.

Dishonesty, as cause of poverty,
381.

Dispensaries, 405.

Divine right theory for origin of
state, 225.

Divorce, 171, 181; causes of in-
crease in the United States, 186;
grounds for, 185 ; rapid increase
in the United States, 182; rem-
edies suggested, 191 ; results of,
190; statistics of, 182; universal
marriage and divorce law, 191 ;
who are divorced, 183.

INDEX

499

Dock, Lavinia L., 460.
Donaldson, J., 171, 176.
Dowry, 169.

Dowd, Professor Jerome, 154.
Du Bois, W. E. D., 154.
Durkheim, Emile, 343.

Earp, E. L,., 126.

Economic progress of negro, 135.

Education, 261, 479; as a city prob-
lem, 124; Athenian, 265; Chin-
ese, 262; classical, 274; colonial,
281 ; during the middle ages, 284 ;
early Christian, 269; European
systems, 284; extension to lower
classes, 278; feeble -mindedness
and, 466; Greek, 264; Hindu,
264; Jewish, 264; negro, 139;
Oriental, 262 ; lack of education
as a cause of crime, 423 ; primi-
tive, 261 ; Spartan, 265 ; monas-
tic, 270; moral, 194; present
tendencies, 287; public, 284; edu-
cational reforms, 279; Roman,
267; scientific tendency in, 287;
sexual equality in, 175.

Effect of immigration upon indus-
try, 88 ; upon labor, 90 ; upon the
population of the United States,
86.

Effects of immorality, 432.

Egypt, religions of early, 247.

Elberfeldt system, 409.

Ellwood, Professor Charles A., 9,
12, 22, 54, 70, 110, 190, 294, 302,
303, 305, 321, 342, 355, 401, 419.

Eliot, T. D., 447.

Ellis, H., 430.

Elmira type of prisons, 435.

Ely, Professor Richard T., 224.

Endogamy, 162.

Engel's laws, 203.

English poor laws, 398.

English school system, 286.

Epilepsy, 473.

Evolution of industry, 220; of
property, 219; or religions, 240;
of social institutions, 155; stages
in, 207; evolutionary origin of
state, 230.

Exclusion of immigrants, 104.

Exodus, 230.
Exogamy, 162.

Factors in development of state,
231.

Fairbanks, Professor Arthur, 22,
321.

Fairchild, Professor Henry Pratt,
107, 394.

Fairlee, J. A., 126.

Families, large, as causes of pov-
erty, 381.

Family, 477; a social unit, 157;
budgets, 199, 201 ; demoralization
as a cause of crime, 420; evolu-
tion of, 157; history of, 158;
income, 195 ; origin of state thru,
229; problems of modern, 178.

Farwell, P. T., 126.

Faust, A. B., 107.

Feeble-minded and insane criminals
417.

Feeble-mindedness, 461; and crime
and vice, 463; and education,
466 ; and poverty, 465 ; causes of,
466 ; extent of, 463 ; treatment of,
467.

Ferri, Enrico, 427, 429.

Fetish worship, 243.

Fifteenth amendment, 142.

Flexner, Abraham, 460.

Foerster, Robert F., 107

Foght, H. W., 126.

Folks, Homer, 447.

Forces operating against urban mi-
gration, 114.

Foreign born, percentage in the
United States, 86, 87.

Foreign parentage, percentage in the
United States, 86, 87.

Forms of marriage, 167.

Foundling asylums, 402.

Fowle, T. W., 398.

French Canadian immigration, 81.

French school systems, 286.

Froebel, F. W. A., 281.

Functions of the state, 234.

Future immigration, 84, 106.

Galpin, Professor C. J., 126.
Garner, J. W., 238.
Gens, 230.

500

INDEX

George Junior Republic, 404.
Greece, religion of ancient, 250.
Greek education, 264.
Gettell, R. G., 238.
Ghost theory of evolution of relig-
ion, 242.
Giddings, Professor Franklin H., 10,

12, 19, 238, 297, 310, 321, 343,

355.
Gillette, Professor John M., 120,

126, 485.
Gillin, Professor John L., 22, 224,

238, 260, 307, 321, 342, 355.
Goddard, H. H., 463, 464, 465, 474.
Goring, Charles, 426, 428, 429.
Gonorrhea, 452.
Goodsell, Professor Willystine, 176,

205.

Government, 478.
Greek immigration, 79.
Groos, Karl, theory of play, 300,

305.

Gross, Hans, 430.
Groves, Professor E. P., 289.
Growth of cities, rapid, 188.
Grounds for divorce, 185.
Growth of individualism, 187, 188.
Granting of divorce on trivial

grounds, 189.
Gumplowicz, Ludwig, 343.

Habits, sentiments and ideals, as

causes of crime, 426.
Habitual criminal, 416.
Haggard, H. Rider, 126.
Hall, Prescott F., 107.
Hammurabi, code of, 247.
Harmful social amusements as

causes of crime, 424.
Hart, H. H., 447.
Hayes, Professor Edward C, 22

224, 260, 305, 355, 447.
Head tax, proposed increase of, 102.
Health, as city problem, 122
Heath, L. M., 485.
Henderson, Professor C. R., 447.
Herbart, J. F., 281.
High standard of living, 187.
Hindu education, 264.
Hindu immigration, 83.
History of the family, 158.
Hobbes, Thomas, 226.

Honor system, 441.

Horde, 158.

Home, H. H., 289.

Hospitals, 404.

Howard, Professor George E., 161,

176, 205.

Howe, F. C., 126.
Howitt, A. H., 224.
Hunter, Robert, 394.
Hunting and fishing stage, 207.

Idiots, 462.

Ignorance, as cause of poverty, 381.

Illiteracy, immigration, 94.

Imbeciles, 462.

Immigrants, exclusion of, 104.

Immigration, 61; and negro, 137;
and the proportion of the sexes,
98; arguments in regard to re-
striction of, 105 ; Armenian, 80 ;
as cause of poverty, 375; Assyr-
ian, 80; Chinese, 83; Commission,
report of, 1907, 107; effect upon
crime, 93; upon industry, 88;
upon labor, 90; upon population
of the United States, 86; upon
poverty, French Canadian, 81 ;
future, 84, 106; Greek, 79; Hin-
du, 83 ; Italian, 71 ; Japanese, 82 ;
legislation, 100; political effects,
90; Portuguese, 80; proposed
consular inspection, 103; pro-
posed legislation, 102 ; proposed
limitation of numbers, 103 ; pro-
posed mental test, 104; proposed
physical test, 103 ; Slavic, 75 ; *
social effects, 91 ; statistics, 71 ;
Syrian, 80; tides of, 83.

Immobility of labor, 372.

Immorality, 448; and vice, negro,
148; as cause of poverty, effects
of, 452; history of, 448.

Importance of primitive religion,
245.

Income, family, 195; spending of,
198.

Increased cost of living, 187.

Increased knowledge of the law as
cause for divorce, 189.

Indeterminate sentence, 440.

Individualism, 179.

INDEX

501

Industrial Commission of Ohio,
report of, 206.

Industrial development, social ef-
fects of, 221.

Industrial education of negro, ISO.

Individuals, 179; growth of as cause
for increase of divorce, 188.

Industrialism, growth of modern
as a cause for increase in divorce,
187.

Industrial stage, 208.

Industry as a factor in the evolu-
tion of the state, 231.

Infant mortality, 204.

Influence of Christianity upon the
family, 170.

Inheritance in matriarchy, 162.

Insanity, 470; treatment of, 472.

Inventions, 216.

Instincts, 293; curiosity, 299; dis-
gust, 299; food, 294; construc-
tion, 298; emulation, 297; self-
assertion, 298; imitation, 298;
possession, 298; pugnacity and
resentment, 286; reproductive,
295; repulsion, 299; rivalry, 297;
self-abasement, 298; self-preser-
vation, 296; wonder, 299.

Instinctive or born criminal, 416.

Insufficient natural resources, as
cause of poverty, 364.

Intellect, 303.

Intellectual advantages, 113; stage,
208.

Intemperance as cause of poverty,
379; as cause of crime, 425.

Interests, 306; altruistic, 312; artis-
tic, 315; economic, 309; esthetic,
315; ethical, 312; group, 318;
intellectual, 316; physical, 308;
political, 314; recreation, 311;
religions, 312; sociability, 310;
social, 306.

Iroquois, marriage system, 163.

Irregular and seasonal work, 371.

Italian school of criminal anthro-
pology, 426.

Italian immigration, 71 ; future of,
75.

Jail, county, 443.
\ Japanese immigration, 82.

Jastrow, Morris, 260.
Jenks, Jeremiah, 107.
Jewish education, 164.
Judaism, 257; position of woman

under, 173.
Juvenile courts, 438.
Juvenile delinquency, a result of

divorce, 190.

Kellor, F., 430.

Kidd, Benjamin, 224, 485.

King, W. I., 394.

Kirkpatrick, Professor E. A., 289.

Kneeland, George J., 460.

Ku Klux Klan, 134.

Language, development of, 213.

Languages, Slavic, 76.

Large families as causes of pov-
erty, 381.

Late marriages, 188.

Lauck, W. Jett, 107.

Laws of Manu, 254.

Leacock, Stephen, 238.

Laziness, as cause of poverty, 378.

Lease system, 437.

Lecky, W. E. H., 260.

Le Play, budget method, 199.

Lewis, B. G., 447.

Lightenberger, James P., 205.

Lindsay, Judge Benjamin F., 438.

Literacy, negro, 139, 140.

Local option, as solution of negro
problem, 152.

Locke, John, 226.

Lombroso, Caesar, 426, 427, 428,
429.

London, Jack, 360, 394.

Lowell, A. Lawrence, 342.

Low wages, 370.

Lubbock, Sir John, 260.

Ludus, 238.

Lunch rooms in schools, 392.

Lynching, 146.

Magic, 245.

Maine, Sir Henry, 164.

Maladjustment, 354; of industty as

a cause of crime, 421; social, ->57.
Malthus, T. R., 43. 54; theory of,

43.
Manu, laws of, 254.

502

INDEX

Marriage, by capture, 168; by con-
sent, 170; by purchase, 168;
forms of, 167; late, 188; placing
of restrictions upon, 193; sta-
bility of, 171; universal marriage
and divorce law, 191.

Mangold, George B., 206.

Mann, Horace, 284.

Matriarchy, 160; economic argu-
ment in regard to, 162.

Mayo-Smith, Richard, 107.

McDonald, A., 430.

McDowell, Miss, 200.

McDougall, William, 294, 305.

McLennan, John F., 158, 177.

Means of social control, 325.

Means of subsistence, classification
of, 210.

Mecklin,. Professor J. M., 154.

Mediaeval universities, 272.

Mental test for immigrants, pro-
posed, 104.

Menzies, Allan, 240, 260.

Migration, urban, 108.

Mind of primitive man, 210.

Modern times, education of, 277.

Mohammedanism, 256; position of
woman under, 173.

Monastic education, 270.

Monitor schools, 278.

Monagamy, 167.

Monroe, Professor Paul, 289.

Moore, Professor George F., 260.

Moral education, as a remedy for
divorce, 194.

Moral standards and ideals, 479.

Morgan, Lewis H., 158, 167, 176,
208, 210, 224, 230.

Morgan, W. S., 126.

Morons, 462.

Morrow, Prince A., 460.

Mortality, infant, 204.

Modern contributions to education,
271.

Mulatto, 148; increase and distri-
bution of, 130.

Municipal government, as a city
problem, 121.

Municipal ownership and control as
a city problem, 125.

Munro, Professor W. B., 126.

Nearing, Scott E., 206, 394.

Nair type of polyandry, 161.

National religion, 246.

Naturalistic tendency in education,
279.

Natural selection, 168.

Nature worship, 241.

Neglect and desertion as causes of
poverty, 380.

Negro, absorption of, 149; and im-
migration, 137; crime, 145; eco-
nomic prosperity of, 135; educa-
tion, 139; immorality and vice,
148; literacy, 139, 140; political
condition, 142 ; population statis-
tics, 128, 129, 130, 131; prob-
lem, 127; problems, 144; rural
population, 130; urban popula-
tion, 130; Year Book, 130, 131,
136, 139, 147, 154.

New machinery as cause of poverty,
373.

New styles as causes of poverty,
373.

New York Committee of Fourteen,
460.

New York Commission of Immi-
gration, report of, 1909, 107.

Old age as cause of poverty, 380.

Organization, social, 343.

Oriental education, 262.

Origin of the state, different theo-
ries of, 225.

Orphan asylums, 402.

Osbornes, T. M., system of self-
government, 442.

Outdoor relief, 406.

Page, Thomas Nelson, 140, 152, 154.
Parmelee, Professor Maurice, 22, 54,

305, 394, 429.
Parole, 440.

Parsons, Elsie Clews, 177.
Past history of negro, influence of,

131.

Pastoral stage, 207.
Patriarchal family, 167.
Patriarchy, 164.

Patriotism, development of, 229.
Pauperism, poverty and, of negroes,

144.
Pennsylvania type of prisons, 434.

INDEX

503

Pestalozzi, J. H., 280.

Philips, U. B., 154.

Phratry, 230.

Physical environment as cause of
crime, 420.

Physical needs, 200.

Physical test for immigrants, pro-
posed, 103.

Piece-price system, 437.

Play, 299.

Plunkett, Sir Horace, 126.

Political condition of negro, 142.

Political effects of immigration, 99.

Politics, sexual equality in, 176.

Pollock, H. M., 126.

Polyandry, 161.

Polygyny, 165.

Poor health as cause of poverty,
377.

Poor judgment as cause of pov-
erty, 379.

Population, urban, 110.

Portuguese immigration, 80.

Position of woman under different
religions, 172.

Poverty, 359; and pauperism of
negroes, 144; as a cause of crime,
421 ; causes of, 364; causes of,
also results, 383; effects of immi-
gration upon, 95 ; extent of, 362 ;
Feeble-mindedness and, 465 ; pov-
erty line, 385 ; program for the
future prevention of, -4JJj treat-
ment of, (3957 what is it>, 360.

Prayer, 245N-

Present educational tendencies, 287.

Prevention, theory of, 433.

Primitive education, 261.

Primitive man, mind of, 210.

Primitive religion, characteristics of,
244.

Prisons, different types of, 434.

Prison work, 436.

Probation, 440.

Problems of the city, 120; of the
country, 115; negro, 144; of the
modern family, 178.

Progress, 477.

Promiscuity, 158. 4

Property, evolution of, 219.

Proposed legislative restrictions
upon immigration, 102.

Prostitution, 448; causes of, 449;
prevention of, 457; regulation of,
455; repression of, 45 5 j treat-
ment of, 455.

Protection as a city problem, 123.

Prussian school system, 285.

Psychology, criminal, 426.

Public account system, 437.

Public education, 284.

Public opinion, control by, 325;
effects of, 326.

Public use system, 438.

Public vs. private relief, 410.

Purchase, marriage by, 168.

Punaluan family, 167.

Race and nationality as causes of
crime, 423.

Race suicide, 178.

Rapid growth of cities, 188.

Rapid industrial growth of the
country, 110.

Ratzel, F., 154.

Ratzenhoffer, Gustav, 343.

Reconstruction period, 134, 141.

Recreation, 113; as a city prob-
lem, 124; as a country problem,
118.

| Reform, educational, 279.
! Reformation, educational influence
of, 276; renaissance and, 274;
theory of, 433.
! Relief, outdoor, 406.

Religion, 478; and ethics, 239; as
a factor in the evolution of the
state, 232; decay of, 188; evolu-
tion of, 240; great world relig-
ions of today, 252 ; growth of
national, 246; importance of
primitive, 245 ; of ancient Greece
and Rome, 250; of early Babylon
and Egypt, 247; position of
woman under different religions,
172.

Renaissance and reformation, 274.

Repression, theory of, 432.

Restricting grounds for divorce, 193.

Restriction of immigration, 100;
arguments in regard to, 105.

Restrictions upon marriage, 193.

Results of divorce, 190; of pov-
erty, 383.

504

INDEX

Revenge, theory of, 431.
Rhetorical schools, 268.
Riis, Jacob A., 360.
Ripley, Professor William Z., 57.
Rivers, W. H. R., 224.
Roberts, Peter, 107.
Roman education, 267.
Roman religion, 350.
Robinson, L. N., 430.
Ross, Professor Edward A., 22, 99,
307, 321, 323, 324, 325, 342, 355.
Rowntree, B. S., 385, 394.
Rousseau, J. J., 226, 238, 279.
Rowe, L. S., 126.
Ryan, John A., 206, 394.

Sacredness, 245.

Sacrifices, 344.

Saleeby, C. W., 177, 205.

Saleilles, R., 447.

Sanger, Wililam W., 460.

Savagery, status of, 208.

Schafer, J., 485.

Schiller, theory of play, 299.

School, country, 116.

Scientific education, 277; tendency

in education, 287.
Segregation* of the negro, 151.
Seligman, Mr. and Mrs. C. G., 224;

Edwin R. A., 460.
Sellars, R. W., 485.
Separate prisons for women, 444.
Seward, George F., 107.
Sex, as cause or condition of crime,

425 ; immigration and the propor-
tion of, 98.
Sexual equality, 175.
Sexual passions as causes of crime,

426.

Sexual selection, 168.
Share system, 139.
Shiftlessness as cause of poverty,

378.

Sickness as cause of poverty, 377.
Single offender, 416.
Skeat, W. W., 224.
Slavery as method of dealing with

poverty, 395; effect of upon

negro, 133.
Slavic immigration, 75; future of,

79.
Slavic languages, 76.

Slavs, distribution of in the United
States, 78.

Small, Professor Albion W., 22, 307,
321.

Smith, S. G., 474; W. R., 177.

Social achievement, 207.

Social classes, 349.

Social contract, theory of, 226.

Social control, 322 ; general charac-
teristics of, 339; means of, 325;
by art, 335; by ceremony, 337;
by custom, 334; by education,
332; by habit, 334; by law, 327;
by personality, 336; by public
opinion, 325 ; by religion, 328.

Social effects of immigration, 91.

Social environment as a cause of
crime, 420.

Social effects of industrial develop-
ment, 221.

Social equality between the sexes,
175.

Social evolution, stages in, 207.

Social habits and customs as causes
of crime, 424.

Social institutions, as causes of pov-
erty, 375; becoming more useful,
477.

Social maladjustment, 354, 357; be-
coming less harmful, 482.

Social organization, 343.

Social progress, 475.

Society, aim and purpose of, 352;
functioning more perfectly, 480.

Solution of negro problem, 149.

Southerland, A., 260.

Spargo, John, 391, 394.

Spartan education, 265.

Spencer, B., 224; Herbert, 224, 260,
300; ghost theory of, 243.

Spirit worship, 242.

Stability of marriage, 171.

Standard of living, 187; of immi-
grants, 91.

Starbuck, E. D., 260.

Starcke, C. M., 176.

State, 225; charity, 397; functions
of, 234; origin of, 225.

Steiner, Professor Edward C., 107.

Stone, A. rf., 137, 146, 154.

Streightoff, Frank H., 206.

Strong, J., 126.

INDEX

505

Stuckenberg, J. H. W., 307.
Struggle theory for origin of state,

226.

Subjective causes of poverty, 376.
Subsistence, classification of means

of, 210.

Sumner, Helen, 224.
Superior comforts, 113.
Supreme Being, worship of, 244.
Suttee, 172.

Syndiasmian family, 167.
Syphillis, 452.
Syrian immigration, 80.

Taoism, 252.

Tarde, G., 13, 19, 343, 430.

Tenney, E. P., 177, 485.

Thomas, W. I., 177, 224, 238, 245,
289.

Thwing, Carrie F., 176; Charles F.,
176.

Tides of immigration, 83.

Tillinghast, J. A., 154.

Tibetan forms of polyandry, 162.

Time limit before remarriage, 193.

Todas, 162.

Todd, Professor A. J., 485.

Transportation, as a city problem,
121.

Treatment of the criminal, 431 ; of
feeble-mindedness, 467; of insan-
ity, 472; of poverty, 395; of
prostitution, 455.

Trend of modern charity, 411.

Tribe, 230.

Tufts, Professor J. H., 260.

Tyler, Edward B., 224, 260.

Unemployment, 365.

Unhealthful and dangerous occupa-
tions as causes of poverty, 372.

Universal marriage and divorce law,
191.

University of Chicago budget meth-
od, 199.

Unwise giving as cause of poverty,
376.

Urban migration, 108; cause of,
110; forces operating against, 114.

Urban population, 110.

Veblen, Thornstein, 305.

Vedic religion, 253.

Veiler, Lawrence, 394.

Vice, 448; feeble-mindedness and,

463.
Vogt, P. L., 126.

Wallas, Graham, 305.

War, famine and disaster as causes

of poverty, 382.
Ward, Professor Lester F., 11, 22,

177, 207, 224, 226, 238, 302, 303,

305, 307, 315, 321, 355, 485.
Warne, Frank W., 107.
Warner, Professor Amos G., 394,

404, 405, 406, 407, 474.
Washington, Booker T., ISO, 154.
Wasteful methods on the farm, 119.
Wealth, as a factor in the evolu-
tion of the state, 231.
Weber, A. F., 126.
Weeks, Professor Arland D., 289,

355.

Weeks, D. F., 474.
Westermarck, Edward, 159, 163,

176, 260.

White slave traffic, 452.
White, W. C., 485.
Wilcox, D. F., 126; W. F., 183, 205.
Willoughby, Professor W. W., 238.
Wilson, President Woodrow, 238;

W. H., 126.

Wines, F. H., 429, 447.
Woman, position of under different

religions, 172.
Women in industry, 390; separate

prisons for, 444.
Worship, ancestor, 241 ; fetish, 243 ;

nature, 241; of Supreme Being,

244; spirit, 241.
Wright, Professor Carrol D., 22,

54, 206.

Y. M. C. A., 119.
Y. W. C. A., 459.

Zueblin, Charles, 126.

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